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The Religious State. 

Together with a Short Treatise on 

The Vocation to the Priesthood 



Translated from the Italian 

ST. ALPHONSUS !)& LIGUORI, 
Doctor of the Church. 



Edited by 

REV. EUGENE GRIMM, C.SS.R. 




New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: 

BENZIGER BROTHERS, 

Printers to the Holy Apostolic See. 



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Xhb to**** 

OF 




opyright, 1889, by Benziger Brothers. 



CONTENTS. 



THE VOCATION TO THE RELIGIOUS STATE. 

• PAGE 

I. We ought to conform to the designs of God in 

the choice of a state of life, whatever it may be 5 
II. The vocation to the religious state. How im- 
portant it is to follow it promptly 7 

1. Misery to which one exposes one's self by not 

corresponding to it 7 

2. We must obey the law of God without delay. . . 11 

III. Means to be employed for preserving a religious 

vocation in the world 17 

1. Secrecy 17 

2. Prayer 25 

3. Recollection 26 

IV. Dispositions required for entering religion ...... 28 

1. Detachment from comforts 32 

2. Detachment from parents 34 

3. Detachment from self-esteem 39 

4. Detachment from one's own will 43 

V. Trials which we must expect to have in religious 

life 48 

Remedies in temptation: 

First : To have recourse to God . . 49 

Second : To have recourse to the Superior 51 

Conclusion 53 

Considerations for those who are called to 
the Religious State. 

Con. I. How the salvation of the soul is secured 

by entering the religious state 57 

Con. II. The happiness of the religious at death.. 61 

Con. III. The account that he will have to render 
to Jesus Christ, on the day of judgment, 
who does not follow his vocation 66 

Con. IV. The torment which in hell shall be the lot 
of him who is damned for having lost 
his vocation 70 

Con. V. The immense glory that religious enjoy 

in heaven 73 

3 



Contents. 



PAGE 

Con. VI. The peace God gives good religious to 

enjoy 78 

Con. VII. The damage done to religious by tepidity 82 
Con. VIII. How dear to God is a soul that gives 

itself entirely to him 87 

Con. IX. How necessary it is in order to become a 

saint, to have a great desire for sanctity 91 
Con. X. The love we owe Jesus Christ in consider- 
ation of the love he has shown to us 96 

Con. XI. The great happiness which religious en- 
joy in dwelling in the same house with 
Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. . 101 
Con. XII. The life of religious resembles the life of 

Jesus Christ 105 

Con. XIII. The zeal which religious ought to have 

for the salvation of souls 109 

Con. XIV. How necessary to religious are the virtues 

of meekness and humility 113 

Con. XV. How much religious should confide in the 

patronage of Mary 117 

Exhortation to religious to advance in the perfection 

of their state 121 

Answer to a young man who asks counsel on the 

choice of a state of life 128 

Advice to a young person in doubt about the state of 

life she ought to embrace 139 

Discourse to pious maidens 149 

Excellence of virginity 149 

Means to preserve virginal purity 159 

Conclusion 167 

A letter to a young student who is deliberating on a 
choice of a state of life 169 

THE VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD. 

I. Necessity of a divine vocation to take Holy 

Orders 195 

II. Marks of a divine vocation to the sacerdotal 

state 200 • 

1. Purity of intention 204 

2. Science and talents 205 

3. Positive goodness of character 206 

III. To what danger one exposes one's self by taking 

Holy Orders without a vocation 212 



®l)£ location to tl)e Editions State. 



COUNSELS CONCERNING THE RELIGIOUS VOCATION. 



I. We ought to Conform to the Designs of 
God in the Choice of a State of Life, 
whatever it may be. 

JIT T is evident that our eternal salvation 
W depends principally upon the choice 
^*~* of our state of life. Father Gransfda 
calls this choice the chief wheel of our 
whole life. Hence, as when in a clock the 
chief wheel is deranged the whole clock is 
also deranged, so, in the order of our salva- 
tion, if we make a mistake as to the state to 
which we are called, our whole life, as St. 
Gregory says, will be an error. 

If, then, in the choice of a state of life 
we wish to secure our eternal salvation, we 
must embrace that to which God calls us, 
in which alone God prepares for us the effi- 
cacious means necessary to our salvation. 
For, as St. Cyprian says : " The grace of the 
Holy Spirit is given according to the order 

5 



6 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 



<b 



of God, and not according to our own 
will " (Be Sing, cler.) ; and therefore St. 
Paul writes : " Every one hath his proper 
gift from God" (i Cor, vii. 7). That is, as 
Cornelius a Lapide explains it, God gives 
to every one his vocation, and chooses the 
state in which he wishes him to be saved. 
This is the order of predestination de- 
scribed by the same apostle : " Whom he 
predestinated, them he also called ; and 
whom he called, them he also justified, . . . 
and them he also glorified " (Rom, viii. 30). 

We must remark that in the world this 
doctrine of vocation is not much studied 
by some persons. They think it to be all 
the same, whether they live in the state to 
which God calls them, or in that which 
they choose of their own inclination, and 
therefore so many live a bad life and damn 
themselves. 

But it is certain that this is the principal 
point with regard to the acquisition of eter- 
nal life. He who disturbs this order and 
breaks this chain of salvation will not be 
saved. With all his labors and with all the 
good he may do, St. Augustine will tell 
him: "Thou runnest well, but out of the 
way;" that is, out of the way in which God 
has called you to walk for attaining to sal- 



How Important to Follow it Promptly. 7 

1 vation. The Lord does not accept the sac- 
rifices offered up to him from our own incli- 
nation : " But to Cain and his offerings he 
had no respect" {Gen. iv. 5). He even 
threatens with great chastisements those 
who, when he calls them, turn their backs 
on him in order to follow the whims of 
their own caprice. " Woe to you, apostate 
children," he says through Isaias, "that you 
would take counsel and not of me, and 
would begin a web and not by my spirit" 
(Is a. xxx. 1). 

II. The Vocation to the Religious State. 
How Important it is to Follow it Promptly. 

I. Misery to which one exposes one's self by 
not corresponding to it. 

JHE divine call to a more perfect life is 
undoubtedly a special grace and a 
very great one, which God does not 
give to all ; hence he has much reason to 
be indignant against those who despise it. 
How greatly would not a prince think him- 
self offended, if he should call one of his 
vassals to serve him near his person, and 
this vassal should refuse to obey the call ! 
And should God not resent such conduct ? 
Oh, he resents it but too much, and threatens 



8 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

such persons by saying, " Woe to him that 
gainsayeth his maker" {Isa. xlv. 9). The 
word woe in Scripture signifies eternal dam- 
nation. The chastisement of the disobedi- 
ent will begin even in this life, in which he 
will always be unquiet ; for says Job : " Who 
hath resisted him and hath had peace?" 
{Job ix. 4.) He will, therefore, be deprived 
of those abundant and efficacious helps 
necessary to lead a good life. For which 
reason Habert, a divine, writes : " He will 
with great difficulty be able to work out his 
salvation" {De Ord. p. 3, c. i. § 2). He will 
with great difficulty save himself, for, being 
like a member out of its proper place, he 
will with great difficulty be able to live well. 
"He will be," adds the learned author, "in 
the body of the Church like a limb of the 
human body out of its place, which may be 
able to perform its functions, but only with 
difficulty and in an awkward manner" {Ibid). 
Whence he concludes : " And though, ab- 
solutely speaking, he may be saved, he will 
with difficulty enter upon and advance in 
the road, and .use the means of salvation" 
{Ibid). The same thing is said by St. Ber- 
nard 1 and St. Leo. 2 St. Gregory, 3 writing to 
the emperor Maurice, who by an edict had 

1 De Vit. Cler. c. 5. 2 Epist. 87. 3 Epist. 1. 2, c. 100. 



How Important to Follow it Promptly. 9 

forbidden soldiers to become religious, says 
that this was an unjust law, which shut the 
gates of paradise to many, because many 
would save themselves in religion who 
would otherwise perish in the world. 

Remarkable is the case related by Father 
Lancicius. There was in the Roman college 
a youth of great talents. Whilst he was 
making the spiritual exercises, he asked his 
confessor whether it was a sin not to corre- 
spond with the vocation to the religious life. 
The confessor answered that in itself it was 
no grievous sin, because this is a thing of 
counsel and not of precept, but that one 
would expose one's salvation to great danger, 
as it had happened to many who for this rea- 
son were finally damned. He did not obey 
the call. He went to study at Macerata, 
where he soon began to omit prayer and holy 
Communion, and finally gave himself up to a 
bad life. Soon after, coming one night from 
the house of a wicked woman, he was mor- 
tally wounded by a rival ; certain priests ran 
to his assistance, but he expired before they 
arrived, and, moreover, in front of the col- 
lege. By this circumstance God wished to 
show that this chastisement came upon 
him for having neglected his vocation. 

Remarkable also is the vision had by a 



io Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

novice, who, as Father Pinamonti relates in 
his treatise of the victorious vocation, had 
resolved on leaving his Order. He saw- 
Christ, on a throne, in wrath ordering his 
name to be blotted out of the book of life, 
by which vision he was so terrified that he 
persevered in his vocation. 

How many other similar examples are 
there not to be found in books ! And how 
many unhappy youths shall we not see 
damned on the day of judgment for not 
having followed their vocation ! These are 
rebels to the divine light, as the Holy Ghost 
says : " They have been rebellious to the 
light, they have not known his ways" (Job 
xxiv. 13) ; and they will be justly punished 
by losing the light ; and because they would 
not walk in the way shown them by the 
Lord, they shall walk without light in that 
chosen by their own caprice, and perish. 
In Proverbs the Lord expresses himself with 
still greater force ; each word should be well ' 
weighed : " Behold, I will utter my spirit 
to you" (Prov. i. 23). Behold the vocation; 
but because they fail to follow it, God adds : 
!' Because I called and you refused . . . you 
have despised all my counsel. ... I also 
will laugh in your destruction, and will 
mock, when that shall come to you, which 



How Important to Follow it Promptly. 1 1 

you feared" {Ibid. i. 24-26). And this signi- 
fies that God will not hear the prayers of him 
who has neglected to obey his voice. St. 
Augustine says : " They who have despised 
the will of God which invited them, shall 
feel the will of God," when it becomes its own 
avenger" (7?. ad obj. Vine. 16). 

2. We must obey the voice of God without 
delay. 

Whenever God calls any one to a more 
perfect state, he who does not wish to expose 
his eternal salvation to great danger must 
then obey, and obey promptly. Otherwise 
he will hear from Jesus Christ the reproach 
which he made to that young man who, 
when invited to follow him, said : " I will 
follow thee, Lord, but let me first take my 
leave of them that are at my house " (Luke 
ix. 61). And Jesus replied to him that he 
was not fit for paradise : " No man putting 
his hand to the plough, and looking back, is 
fit for the kingdom of God" (Ibid. 62). 

The lights that God gives are transient, 
not permanent gifts. Hence St. Thomas 
of Aquinas says that the vocation of God 
to a more perfect life ought to be followed 
as promptly as possible. The Angelic Doc- 



1 2 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

tor 1 proposes in his Summa the question 
whether it be praiseworthy to enter religion 
without having asked the counsel of many 
and without long deliberation. He answers 
in the affirmative, saying that counsel and 
deliberation are necessary in doubtful 
things, but not in this matter which is 
certainly good, because Jesus Christ has 
counselled it in the Gospel, since the relig- 
ious state comprehends most of the coun- 
sels of Jesus Christ. 

How singular a thing it is, when there is 
question of entering religion to lead a life 
more perfect and more free from the dan- 
gers of the world, for men of the world to 
say that it is necessary to deliberate a long 
time before putting such resolutions in ex- 
ecution, in order to ascertain whether the 
vocation comes from God or from the devil ! 
But they do not talk thus when any one is 
to accept of a place in the magistracy, of a 
bishopric, etc., where there are so many 
dangers of losing the soul. Then they do 
not say that many proofs are required 
whether there be a true vocation from God. 

The saints, however, do not talk thus. 
St. Thomas 2 says that if the vocation to 
religion should even come from the devil, 

1 2. 2. q. 189, a. 10. 2 Contra retr. a rel. c. 10. 



How Important to Follow it Promptly. 1 3 

we should nevertheless follow it as a good 
counsel, though coming from an enemy. 
St. John Chrysostom, as quoted by the 
same St. Thomas, says that God, when he 
gives such vocations, wills that we should 
not defer even a moment to follow them. 1 
Christ requires from us such an obedience 
that we should not delay an instant. And 
why this ? Because as much as God is 
pleased to see in a soul promptitude in 
obeying him, so much he opens his hand 
and fills it with his blessings. On the con- 
trary, tardiness in obeying him displeases 
him, and then he shuts his hand and with- 
draws his lights, so that in consequence a 
soul will follow its vocation with difficulty 
and abandon it again easily. Therefore St. 
John Chrysostom says that when the devil 
cannot bring any one to give up his resolu- 
tion of consecrating himself to God, he at 
least seeks to make him defer the execution 
of it, and esteems it a great gain if he can 
obtain the delay of one day only, or even 
of an hour (Ad pop. Ant. horn. 56). Be- 
cause after that day or that hour, other 
occasions presenting themselves, it will be 
less difficult for him to obtain greater 
delay, until the individual who has been 
1 In Matth. horn. 14. 



14 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation, 

thus called, finding himself more feeble and 
less assisted by grace, gives way altogether 
and loses his vocation. Therefore St. 
Jerome gives to those who are called to 
quit the world this advice: "Make haste, 
I beseech you, and rather cut than loosen 
the cable by which your bark is bound fast 
to the land" {Ad Paulin. de st. Scr.). The 
saint wishes to say that as a man who 
should find himself in a boat on the point 
of sinking would seek to cut the rope, 
rather than to loosen it, so he who finds 
himself in the midst of the world ought to 
seek to get out of it as promptly as possi- 
ble, in order to free himself from the dan- 
ger which is so great, in the world, of losing 
his soul. 

Let us also hear what St. Francis de Sales 
writes in his works on religious vocation, 
because the whole of it will go to confirm 
what has already been said and what will 
hereafter be said: "To have a sign of a 
true vocation, it is not necessary that our 
constancy be sensible, it suffices if it be in 
the superior part of our soul. And there- 
fore we must not judge a vocation not to 
be a true one if the individual thus called, 
before putting it in execution, does not feel 
any longer those sensible movements that 



How Important to Follow it Promptly. 1 5 

he felt in the beginning, — even should he 
feel a repugnance and coldness which 
sometimes cause him to waver, and make 
it appear to him that all is lost. It is 
enough that the will remains constant in 
not abandoning the divine call, and also 
that there remains some affection for this 
call. To know whether God will have him 
become a religious, one ought not to ex- 
pect that God himself should speak or send 
to him an angel from heaven to signify his 
will. And as little necessary is it that ten 
or twelve Doctors should examine whether 
the vocation is to be followed or not. But 
it is necessary to correspond to the first 
movement of the inspiration, to cultivate 
it, and then not to grow weary if disgust 
or coldness should come on ; for if one act 
thus, God will not fail to make all suc- 
ceed to his glory. Nor ought we to care 
much from what quarter the first movement 
comes. The Lord has many means to call 
his servants. Sometimes he makes use of 
a sermon, at other times of the reading, of 
good books. Some, as St. Antony and 
St. Francis, have been called by hearing 
the words of the Gospel ; others by means 
of afflictions and troubles that came upon 
them in the world, and that suggested to 



1 6 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

them the motive for leaving it. These per- 
sons, although they come to God only 
because they are disgusted with the world 
or are out of favor with it, nevertheless, fail- 
ing not to give themselves to him with 
their whole will become sometimes greater 
saints than those who entered religion with 
a more apparent vocation. Father Platus 
relates that a nobleman, riding one day on 
a fine horse and striving to make a great 
display in order to please some ladies whom 
he saw, was thrown from the horse into the 
mire, from which he rose besmeared and 
covered with mud. He was so full of con- 
fusion at this accident that at the same 
moment he resolved to become a religious, 
saying : ' Treacherous world, thou hast 
mocked me ; but I will mock thee. Thou 
hast played me a game ; I will play thee 
another, for I will have no more peace with 
thee, and from this hour I resolve to for- 
sake thee and to become a friar.' And in 
fact he became a religious and lived in re- 
ligion a holy life." (Entret. 17.) 




Means to Preserve it in the World. 1 7 



III. Means to be Employed for Preserving a 
Religious Vocation in the World. 

' E, then, who wishes to be faithful to 
the divine call ought not only to 
resolve to follow it, but to follow it 
promptly, if he does not wish to expose 
himself to the evident danger of losing his 
vocation ; and in case he should by neces- 
sity be forced to wait, he ought to use all 
diligence to preserve it, as the most precious 
jewel he could have. 

The means to preserve vocation are three 
in number : secrecy, prayer, and recollection. 

1. Secrecy. 

First, generally speaking he must keep his 
vocation secret from everybody except his 
spiritual Father, because commonly the men 
of the world scruple not to say to young 
men who are called to the religious state 
that one may serve God everywhere, and 
therefore in the world also. And it is won- 
derful that such propositions come some- 
times out of the mouth of priests, and even 
of religious ; but of such religious only as 
have either become so without vocation, or 
do not know what vocation is. Yes, with- 



1 8 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

out doubt, he who is not called to the relig- 
ious state may serve God in every place, 
but not he who is called to it and then 
from his own inclination wishes to remain 
in the world : such a one, as I have said 
above, can with difficulty serve God and 
lead a good life. 

It is especially necessary to keep the voca- 
tion secret from parents. 

It was, indeed, the opinion of Luther, as 
Bellarmine ' relates, that children enter- 
ing religion without the consent of their 
parents commit a sin. For, said he, chil- 
dren are bound to obey their parents in all 
things. But this opinion has generally been 
rejected by Councils and the holy Fathers. 
The tenth Council of Toledo expressly says : 
" It is lawful for children to become religious 
without the consent of their parents, pro- 
vided they have attained the age of puber- 
ty." These are the words : " It shall not be 
lawful for parents to put their children in a 
religious Order after they shall have at- 
tained their fourteenth year. After this 
age, it shall be lawful for children to take 
upon themselves the yoke of religious ob- 
servance, whether it be with the consent of 
their parents, or only the wish of their own 
1 De Mon. 1. 2, c. 36. 



Means to Preserve it in the World. 1 9 

hearts" (Can. 24). The same is prescribed in 
the Council of Tribur, and is taught by St. 
Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. 
Bernard, St. Thomas, and others, with St. 
John Chrysostom, who writes in general : 
" When parents stand in the way in spiritual 
things, they ought not even to be recog- 
nized" (In Jo. horn. 84). 

Some Doctors say that when a child 
called by God to the religious state could 
easily and securely obtain the consent of 
his parents, without any danger on their 
part of hindering him from following his 
vocation, it is becoming that he should seek 
to obtain their blessing. This doctrine 
could be held speculatively, but not so in 
practice, because in practice such a danger 
always exists. It will be well to discuss 
this point fully, in order to do away with 
certain pharisaical scruples which some en- 
tertain. 

It is certain that in the choice of a state 
of life children are not bound to obey pa- 
rents. Thus the Doctors with common 
accord teach with St. Thomas, who says : 
" Servants are not bound to obey their mas- 
ters, nor children their parents, with regard 
to contracting matrimony, preserving vir- 
ginity, and such like things" (2. 2. q. 104, a. 5). 



20 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 



05 * 



Nevertheless, with regard to the state 
of marriage, Father Pinamonte, in his 
treatise on religious vocation, is justly of 
the opinion of Sanchez, Koning, and others, 
who hold that a child is bound to take 
counsel of his parents, because in such mat- 
ters they may have more experience than 
the young. But speaking then of religious 
vocation, the above-mentioned Pinamonte 
wisely adds that a child is not bound at all 
to take counsel of his parents, because in 
this matter they have no experience, and 
through interest are commonly changed 
into enemies, as St. Thomas also remarks, 
when speaking of religious vocation. " Fre- 
quently," he says, " our friends according 
to the flesh are opposed to our spiritual 
good" (2. 2. q. 189, a. 10). For fathers often 
prefer that their children should be damned 
with themselves rather than be saved 
away. Hence St. Bernard exclaims : " O 
hard father, O cruel mother, whose conso- 
lation is the death of their son, who wish 
rather that we perish with them than reign 
without them !" {Epist. in.) 

God, says a grave author quoted by St. 
Thomas, when he calls one to a perfect life, 
wishes him to forget his father, saying: 
" Hearken, O daughter, and see, and in- 



Means to Preserve it in the World. 2 1 

cline thy ear, and forget thy people and 
thy father's house." {Ps. xliv. 11). " By 
this, then," he adds, " the Lord certainly ad- 
monishes us that he who is called ought by 
no means to allow the counsel of parents to 
intervene." If God will have a soul who 
is called by him forget its father and its 
father's house, without doubt he suggests 
by this that he who is called to the relig- 
ious state ought not, before he follows the 
call, to interpose the counsel of the carnal 
friends of his household." 

St. Cyril, explaining what Jesus Christ 
said to the youth mentioned above, " No 
man putting his hand to the plough, and 
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of 
God " {Luke ix. 62), comments on it, and 
says that he who asks for time to confer 
with his parents in reference to his voca- 
tion is exactly the one who is declared by 
Our Lord to be unfit for heaven. " In order 
to confer with his parents, he looks back 
who seeks for delay" (Afiud S. Thorn, loc. 
cit.). Hence St. Thomas absolutely ad- 
vises those who are called to religion to 
abstain from deliberating on their vocation 
with their relatives : " From this delibera- 
tion the relatives of the flesh are before all 
to be excluded ; for it is said, Treat thy 



2 2 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

cause with thy friend : l but the relatives of 
the flesh are in this affair not our friends, 
but our enemies, according to the saying of 
Our Lord : * A mans enemies shall be they of 
his household' 2 " {Contra retr. a rel. c. 9). 

If, then, for following one's vocation it 
would be a great error to ask the counsel 
of parents, it would be a greater one still to 
ask their permission, and to wait for it; for 
such a demand cannot be made without an 
evident danger of losing the vocation, as 
often as there is a probable fear that parents 
would exert themselves to prevent it. And, 
in fact, the saints, when they were called to 
leave the world, left their homes without 
giving their parents so much as an intima- 
tion of it. Thus acted a St. Thomas 
Aquinas, a St. Francis Xavier, a St. Philip 
Neri, a St. Louis Bertrand. And we know 
that the Lord has even by miracles ap- 
proved of such glorious flights. 

St. Peter of Alcantara, when he went to 
the monastery to become a religious, and 
was fleeing from the house of his mother 
under whose obedience he had lived since 
the death of his father, found himself pre- 
vented by a wide river from advancing any 
farther. He recommended himself to God, 
1 Prov. xxv. 9. 2 Matt. x. 36. 



Means to Preserve it in the World. 23 

and at the same instant saw himself trans- 
ported to the other side. Likewise, when St. 
Stanislaus Kostka fled from home, without 
the permission of his father, his brother set 
out after him in great haste in a carriage, but 
having almost overtaken him, the horses, 
in spite of all the violence used against 
them, would not advance a step farther, till 
turning towards the city, they began to run 
at full speed. 

In like manner, the Blessed Oringa of 
Waldrano, in Tuscany, being promised in 
marriage to a young man, fled from the 
house of her parents in order to consecrate 
herself to God, but the river Arno opposing 
itself to her course, after a short prayer she 
saw it divide and form as it were two walls of 
crystal, to let her pass through with dry feet. 

Therefore, my very beloved brother, if 
you are called by God to leave the world, 
be very careful not to make your resolution 
known to your parents, and, content to be 
thus blessed by God, seek to execute it as 
promptly as you can, and without their 
knowledge, if you would not expose your- 
self to a great danger of losing your voca- 
tion. For, generally speaking, relatives, as 
was said above, especially fathers and 
mothers, oppose the execution of such reso- 



24 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

lutions ; and although they may be endowed 
with piety, interest, and passion, neverthe- 
less, render them so blind, that under vari- 
ous pretexts they scruple not to thwart with 
all their might the vocation of their children. 

We read in the life of Father Paul Seg- 
neri the younger that his mother, though a 
matron much given to prayer, left, neverthe- 
less, no means untried to prevent her son 
from entering the religious state to which 
he was called. We also read in the life of 
Mgr. Cavalieri, Bishop of Troja, that his 
father, although a man of great piety, used 
every means to prevent his son from enter- 
ing the Congregation of Pious Workmen 
(which, notwithstanding, he afterwards 
did), and even went so far as to bring 
-against him a lawsuit in the ecclesiastical 
court. And how many other fathers, al- 
though they are men of piety and prayer, 
have not in such cases been seen to change, 
and to become possessed, as it were, of the 
devil ! For hell, it seems, arms itself so 
much for no other thing than to prevent 
those who are called to the religious state 
from executing their resolution. 

For this reason, be also very careful not 
to communicate your design to your 
friends, who will not scruple to dissuade 



Means to Preserve it in the World. 25 

you from it, or at least divulge the secret, 
so that the knowledge of it will easily come 
to the ears of your parents. 

2. Prayer, 

In the second place, it is necessary to 
know that these vocations are only pre- 
served by prayer : he who gives up prayer 
will certainly give up his vocation. It is 
necessary to pray, and to pray much, and 
therefore let him who feels himself called 
not omit to make every morning after rising 
mental prayer of an hour, or at least of half 
an hour, in his own room, if he can do so 
there without molestation, and if not, in the 
church, and likewise of half an hour in the 
evening. 

Let him not neglect also to make every 
day without fail a visit to the Most Holy 
Sacrament, as also to the Most Blessed Vir- 
gin Mary, in order to obtain the grace of 
perseverance in his vocation. Let him like- 
wise not omit to receive holy Communion 
thrice, or at least twice, a week. 

His meditations should almost always be 
on this point of the vocation, consider- 
ing how great a favor from God he has re- 
ceived in being thus called by him ; how 
much more easily he will secure his eternal 



26 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

salvation if he be faithful to God in follow- 
ing his vocation ; and, on the contrary, to 
how great a danger of being damned he ex- 
poses himself if he be unfaithful. Let him 
then especially place before his eyes the 
hour of death, and consider the content- 
ment he will then feel if he shall have obeyed 
God, and the pains and the remorse he 
would experience if he should die in the 
world. To this end, I shall add at the end 
of this little work some considerations on 
which he may make his mental prayer. 

It is moreover necessary that all his pray- 
ers to Jesus and Mary, and especially those 
after Communion and in the visits, have 
for their object to obtain perseverance. 

In all his prayers and Communions let 
him always renew the offering of himself to 
God, by saying : 

" Behold, O Lord, I am no more mine, I 
am Thine. Already have I given myself to 
Thee, and now I renew this my offering of 
my whole self. Accept of me and give me 
strength to be faithful to Thee, and to re- 
tire as quickly as possible into Thy. holy 
house." 

3. Recollection. 

In the third place, it is necessary that he 
be recollected ; this will not be possible 



Means to Preserve it in the World. 27 

for him unless he withdraws from worldly- 
conversations and amusements. What, in 
short, as long as we are in the world, is suf- 
ficient to cause the loss of vocation ? A 
mere nothing. One day of amusement, a 
word from a friend, a passion that we do 
not mortify, a little attachment, a thought, 
of fear, or a resentment we do not over- 
come, suffices to bring to naught all our reso- 
lutions of retiring from the world, or of giv- 
ing ourselves entirely to God. Wherefore 
we ought to keep perfectly recollected, de- 
taching ourselves from everything of this 
world. We should during this time think 
of nothing but prayer and frequenting the 
sacraments, and to be nowhere but at home, 
and in the church. Let him who will not 
do so, but distracts himself by pastimes, be 
persuaded that he will without doubt lose 
his vocation. He will remain with the re- 
morse of not having followed it, but he cer- 
tainly will not follow it. Oh, how many by 
neglecting these precautions have lost, first, 
their vocation, and afterwards their souls ! 




28 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 



IV. Dispositions required for Entering 
Religion. 

E who feels himself to be called by 
God to an Order of exact observ- 
ance (I say of exact observance, for 
it would be better for him to remain in the 
world than to enter an Order which is re- 
laxed), should know that the end of every 
Order of exact observance is to follow as 
exactly as possible the footsteps and exam- 
ples of the most holy life of Jesus Christ, 
who led a life entirely detached and morti- 
fied, full of suffering and contempt. He, 
then, who resolves to enter such an Order 
must at the same time resolve to enter it 
for the sake of suffering and denying him- 
self in all things, as Jesus Christ himself has 
declared to those who wish perfectly to fol- 
low him : " If any man will come after me, 
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, 
and follow me" {Matt. xvi. 24). He, then, 
who wishes to enter such an Order must 
firmly establish within himself this resolu- 
tion to suffer, and to suffer much, so that 
afterwards he may not give way to tempta- 
tions, when, having entered, he shall feel 
depressed under the hardships and priva- 



Dispositions for Entering Religion. 29 

tions of the poor and mortified life which is 
there led. 

Many, on entering Communities of exact 
observance, take not the proper means of 
finding peace therein, and of becoming 
saints, because they place before their eyes 
only the advantages of the Community life, 
such as the solitude, the quiet, the freedom 
from the troubles caused by relatives, from 
strife and other disagreeable matters, and 
from the cares consequent on being obliged 
to think of one's lodgings, food, and clothing. 

There is no doubt that every religious is 
only too much indebted to his Order, which 
delivers him from so many troubles, and 
thus procures for him so great a facility to 
serve God perfectly in peace, continually 
furnishing him with so many means for the 
welfare of his soul, so many good examples 
from his companions, so much good advice 
from his Superiors, who watch for his bene- 
fit, so many exercises conducive to eternal 
salvation. All this is true ; but with all this 
he must also, in order not to be deprived of 
so blessed a lot, resolve to embrace all the 
sufferings that he may, on the other hand, 
meet with in the Order ; for if he does not 
embrace them with love, he will never ob- 
tain that full peace which God gives to 



30 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

those who overcome themselves : " To him 
that overcomes I will give the hidden 
manna" {Apoc. ii. 17). For the peace 
which God gives his faithful servants to 
taste is hidden, nor is it known by the men 
of the world, who, seeing their mortified 
life, know not how to envy them, but pity 
them and call them the unhappy ones of 
this earth. But " they see the cross, the 
unction they do not see," says St. Bernard 
(In Dedic. s. 1). They see their mortifica- 
tion, but they do not see the contentment 
God gives them to enjoy. 

It is true that in the spiritual life one has 
to suffer, but, says St. Teresa, when one re- 
solves to suffer, the pain is gone. Nay, the 
pains themselves turn into joy. " My 
daughter," so the Lord said one day to St. 
Bridget, " the treasure of my graces seems 
to be surrounded with thorns, but for him 
who overcomes the first stings, all changes 
itself into sweetness." And then those de- 
lights which God gives to his beloved souls 
to enjoy in their prayers, in their Com- 
munions, in their solitude ; those lights, 
those holy ardors and embraces, that quiet 
of conscience, that blessed hope of eternal 
life, — who can ever understand them if he 
does not experience them ? " One drop of 



.Dispositions for Entering Religion. 31 

the consolations of God," said St. Teresa, 
" is worth more than all the consolations 
and the pleasures of the world." Our most 
gracious God knows well how to give to him 
who suffers something for his sake, even in 
this valley of tears, the experience of the 
foretaste of the glory of the blessed ; for in 
this is properly verified that which David 
says : " Thou who framest labor in com- 
mandment" (Ps. xciii. 20). In the spirit- 
ual life, God, announcing pains, tediousness, 
death, seems to frame labor, but, in fact, 
afterwards it is not so ; for the spiritual life 
brings to them who entirely give themselves 
to God that peace which, as St. Paul says, 
" surpasseth all understanding" {Phil. iv. 
7). It surpasses all the pleasures of the 
world and of worldlings. Hence we see a 
religious more content in a poor cell than 
all the monarchs in their royal palaces. 
" Oh, taste and see that the Lord is sweet" 
(Ps. xxxiii. 9). 

But, on the other hand, he must be per- 
suaded that he who does not resolve to suf- 
fer and to overcome himself in the things 
contrary to his inclinations will never be 
able to enjoy this true peace, though he 
should have already entered religion. " To 
him that overcometh I will give the hidden 



32 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

manna" {Aftoc. ii. 17). It is, then, neces- 
sary that he who wishes to be admitted into 
an Order of exact observance should enter 
with a mind determined to overcome him- 
self in everything, by expelling from his 
heart all inclinations and desires that are 
not from God, nor for God, so that he must 
detach himself from all things, and espe- 
cially from the four following : 1. From his 
comforts ; 2. From his parents ; 3. From 
his self-esteem ; 4. From his own will. 

1. Detachinent from comforts. 

In religion, after the year of novitiate, one 
makes, besides the vows of chastity and 
obedience, also the vow of poverty, in con- 
sequence of which one can never possess 
anything as one's individual property, not 
even a pin, no rents, no money, nor other 
things. The Order will provide him with 
all that he needs. 

But the vow of poverty does not suffice 
to make one a true follower of Jesus Christ, 
if one does not afterwards embrace with joy 
of spirit all the inconveniences of poverty. 
" Not poverty, but the love of poverty is a 
virtue" (Epist. 100), says St. Bernard ; and 
he means to say that for one to become a 
saint, it is not enough to be poor only, if 



Dispositions for Entering Religion. 33 

one does not love also the inconveniences of 
poverty. " Oh, how many would wish to be 
poor and similar to Jesus Christ !" says 
Thomas a Kempis ; " they wish to be poor, 
but without any want," — but so that they be 
in want of nothing. In a word, they would 
wish the honor and the reward of poverty, 
but not the inconveniences of poverty. 

It is easy to understand that in religion 
no one will seek for things that are super- 
fluous, — clothes of silk,costly food, furniture 
of value, and the like ; but he may desire to 
have all things that are necessary, and these 
he may be unable to procure. For then it 
is that he gives proof that he truly loves 
poverty, when things that are needful, such 
as his necessary clothing, bed-covering, or 
food, happen to be wanting and yet he re- 
mains content and is not troubled. And 
what kind of poverty would that be to suf- 
fer, if he were never in want of anything 
necessary ? Father Balthasar Alvarez says 
that in order truly to love poverty, we must 
also love the effects of poverty ; that is, as 
he enumerates them, cold, hunger, thirst, 
and contempt (Life, ch. 5). 

In religion, every one should not only be 
content with that which is given to him, 
without ever asking for anything of which, 



34 Counsels Concer?zi?ig Religious Vocation. 

through the neglect of the officials, he should 
be in want, — this would be a great defect, — 
but he should also prepare himself sometimes 
to bear the want even of those simple things 
that the Rule allows. For it may happen 
that sometimes he is in want of clothes, 
coverings, linen, or such like things, and 
then he has to be satisfied with the little 
that has been given him, without complain- 
ing or being disquieted at seeing himself in 
want even of what is necessary. He who 
has not this spirit, let him not think of en- 
tering religion, because this is a sign that 
he is not called thereto, or that he has not 
the will to embrace the spirit of the Insti- 
tute. He who goes to serve God in his 
house should consider that he is going not 
to be well treated for God, but to suffer for 
God. 

2. DeiacJwient from parents. 

He who wishes to enter religion must 
detach himself from his parents and forget 
them altogether. For, in religious houses 
of exact observance, detachment from pa- 
rents is put in practice in the highest de- 
gree, in order perfectly to follow the doc- 
trine of Jesus Christ, who said : " I came 
not to send peace, but the sword ; I came 
to set a man at variance with his father, 






Dispositions for Entering Religion. 35 

and the daughter against her mother" 
{Matt. x. 34), and then added the reason: 
" A man's enemies shall be they of his own 
household" {Ibid. 36). This is especially 
the case, as has been remarked above, in 
this point of religious vocation : when there 
is question of any one leaving the world, 
there are no worse enemies than parents 
who, either through interest or passion, 
prefer to become enemies of God by turn- 
ing their children away from their vocation 
rather than to give their consent to it. Oh, 
how many parents shall we see in the valley 
of Josaphat damned for having made their 
children or nephews lose their vocation; 
and how many youths shall we see damned 
who, in order to please their parents and 
by not detaching themselves from them, 
have lost their vocation and afterwards 
their souls ! Hence Jesus declares to us : 
" If any man hate not his father, etc., he 
cannot be my disciple " {Luke xiv. 26). 
Let him, then, who wishes to enter a re- 
ligious Order of perfect observance, and to 
become a true disciple of Jesus Christ, re- 
solve to forget his parents altogether. 

When any one has already entered re- 
ligion, let him remember that he must 
practise then the same detachment from 



36 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

parents. Let him know that he cannot go 
to visit his parents in their own house, ex- 
cept in the case of some dangerous illness of 
his father or mother, or of some other urgent 
necessity, though always with the permis- 
sion of the Superior. Otherwise, to go to 
the house of one's parents without the most . 
express permission, would be considered 
in religion as a most notable and scandal- 
ous fault. In religion it is also considered 
as a great defect even to ask permission or 
to show a desire of seeing parents or of 
speaking with them. 

St. Charles Borromeo said that when he 
visited the house of his parents he always, 
after his return, found himself less fervent 
in spirit. And thus let him who goes to 
the house of his parents by his own will 
and not through a positive obedience to his 
Superiors, be persuaded that he will leave 
it either under temptation or will be less 
fervent. 

St. Vincent of Paul could only be in- 
duced once to visit his country and his pa- 
rents, and this out of pure necessity ; and 
he said that the love of home and country 
was a great impediment to his spiritual prog- 
ress* He said also that many, on account 
of having visited their country, had become 



Dispositions for Entering Religion. 3 7 

so tender towards their relatives that they 
were like flies which, being once entangled 
in a cobweb, cannot extricate themselves 
from it. He added : " For that one time that 
I went, although it was for a short time 
only, and though I took care to prevent in 
my relatives every hope of help from me, 
yet I felt at leaving them such a pain that 
I ceased not to weep all along the road, 
and was for three months harassed by the 
thought of coming to their aid. At last, 
God in his mercy took that temptation 
from me" {Vie, par Ab. 1. 3, ch. 39). 

Let him know, moreover, that no one may 
write to his parents without permission, 
and without showing the letter to the Su- 
perior. Otherwise, he would be guilty of a 
most grievous fault which is not to be 
tolerated in religion, and should be punished 
with severity ; since from this might come 
a thousand disorders tending to destroy the 
religious spirit. Let especially the new- 
comer know that during the novitiate this 
is observed with the greatest rigor; for 
novices during their year of novitiate do 
not easily obtain permission to talk to their 
parents, or to write to them. 

Finally, let him know that, in case a sub- 
ject should become sick, it would be a no- 



3& Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation 

table defect to ask or to show an inclination 
to go to his own house for his restoration 
to health, under the plea of being better 
taken care of, or of enjoying the benefit of 
his native air. The air of his own country 
becomes almost always, or even always, 
hurtful and pestilential to the spirit of the 
subject. And if he should ever say that he 
wishes to be cured at home in order not to 
subject the Order to expenses for remedies, 
let him know that the Order has charity 
enough to take sufficient care of the sick. 
As to the change of air, the Superiors will 
think of that; and if the air of one house is 
not beneficial to him, they will send him to 
another. And as for remedies, they will 
even sell the books, if need be, to provide 
for the sick. And so let him be sure that 
divine Providence will not fail him. And 
if the Lord should decree against his re- 
covery, he should conform himself to the 
will of God, without even mentioning the 
word "home." The greatest grace that he 
who enters an Order can desire is to die, 
when God wills it, in the house of God, as- 
sisted by the brethren of his Order, and 
not in a secular house in the midst of his 
relatives. 



Dispositions for Entering Religion. 39 

3. Detaekme?tt from self-esteem. 

He must also be altogether detached 
from all self-esteem. Many leave their 
country, their comforts and parents, but 
carry with them a certain esteem for them- 
selves ; but this is the most hurtful attach- 
ment of all. The greatest sacrifice that we 
can make to God is to give to him not only 
goods, pleasures, and home, but ourselves 
also by leaving ourselves. This is that 
denying of self which Jesus Christ recom- 
mends above all to his followers. And for 
this self-denial it is necessary that every 
one should first place under foot all self- 
esteem, by desiring and embracing every 
imaginable contempt which he may meet 
with in religion, — as, for instance, to see 
others whom perhaps he thinks less deserv- 
ing preferred to himself, or to be considered 
unfit to be employed, or only employed in 
lower and more laborious occupations. He 
should know that in the house of God those 
charges are the highest and the most honor- 
able which are imposed by obedience. God 
forbid that any one should seek for or 
aspire to any office or charge of pre-emi- 
nence ! This would be a strange thing in 
religion, and he would be noted as proud 



40 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

and ambitious, and as such be put in 
penance, and especially mortified in this 
point. Better would it be, perhaps, that a 
religious Order should be destroyed than 
that there should enter into it that accursed 
pest of ambition which, when it enters, dis- 
figures the most exemplary Communities 
and the most beautiful works of God. 

But he should feel even consoled in spirit 
when he sees himself mocked and despised 
by his companions. I say consoled in 
spirit, for as to the flesh this will be impos- 
sible ; nor need a subject be uneasy when he 
sees that he resents it : it is enough that the 
spirit embraces it, and that he rejoices at it 
in the superior part of the soul. 

Thus also seeing himself continually rep- 
rimanded and mortified by all, not only by 
Superiors, but also by equals and inferiors, 
he should heartily and with a tranquil mind 
thank those who thus reprimand him and 
have the charity to admonish him, answer- 
ing that he will be more attentive not to 
fall into that fault again. One of the 
greatest desires of the saints in this world 
was to be contemned for the love of Jesus 
Christ. This it is that St. John of the 
Cross asked for, when Jesus Christ appeared 
to him with a cross on his shoulder and 



Dispositions for Entering Religion. 41 

said, " John, ask from me what thou wish- 
est," and St. John answered, " O Lord, to 
suffer and to be despised for Thee." The 
Doctors teach, with St. Francis de Sales, 
that the highest degree of humility we can 
have is to be pleased with abjections and 
humiliations. And in this consists also one 
of the greatest merits that we can have with 
God. Some contempt or affront suffered in 
peace for the love of God is of greater value 
in his sight than a thousand disciplines and 
a thousand fasts. 

It is necessary to know that to suffer con- 
tempt either from Superiors or from com- 
panions is a thing unavoidable even in the 
most holy Communities. Read the lives of 
the saints, and you will see how many 
mortifications were encountered by St. Fran- 
cis Regis, St. Francis of Jerome, Father 
Torres, and others. The Lord sometimes 
permits that even between saints there 
should exist, though without their fault, 
certain natural antipathies, or at least a cer- 
tain diversity of character between subjects 
of the greatest piety, which will cause them 
$0 suffer many contradictions. At other 
times false reports will be spread and be- 
lieved ; God himself will permit this, in 
order that the subjects may have occasion 



42 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

to exercise themselves in patience and 
humility. 

In a word, he will gain little in religion 
and lose much who cannot quietly put up 
with contempt and contradiction ; and, 
therefore, he who enters religion to give 
himself entirely to God should be ashamed 
not to know how to bear contempt when 
he appears before Jesus Christ, who was 
" filled with opprobriums " for love of us. 
Let every one be attentive to this, and re- 
solve to be pleased in religion with all ab- 
jections, and to prepare himself to suffer 
many of them, for without the least doubt 
he will have many to bear. Otherwise, the 
disquiet caused by contradictions and con- 
tempt badly endured might trouble him so 
much as to make him lose his vocation, and 
drive him out of religion. Oh, how many 
have lost their vocation on account of such 
impatience in humiliations ! But of what 
service to the Order or to God can he be 
who does not know how to bear contempt 
for his sake ! And how can any one ever 
be said to be dead according to that promise 
which he made to Jesus Christ, on entering 
religion, to die to himself, if he remain alive 
to resentment and disquiet when he sees 
himself humbled ? Out of the Order with 



Dispositions for Entering Religion. 43 

such subjects, so attached to their own 
esteem — out with them ! It is well for them 
to go as soon as possible, that they may not 
also infect the rest with their pride. In re- 
ligion every one should be dead, and espe- 
cially to his own self-esteem ; otherwise it is 
better for them not to enter, or to depart 
again if they have already entered. 

4. Deiachment from one's own will. 

He who enters into religion must alto- 
gether renounce his own will, consecrating 
it entirely to holy obedience. Of all things, 
this is the most necessary. What does it 
avail to leave comforts, parents, and honors, 
if still one carries into religion one's own 
will ? In this principally consists the de- 
nial of ourselves, the spiritual death, and 
the entire surrender of ourselves to Jesus 
Christ. The gift of the heart, that is, of 
the will, is what pleases him most, and what 
he wishes from the children of religion. 
Otherwise, if we do not entirely detach our- 
selves from our own will and renounce it in 
all, all mortifications, all meditations and 
prayers, and all other sacrifices will be of 
little avail. 

It is, then, evident that this is the great- 
est merit that we can have before God, and 



44 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

this is the sure and only way of pleasing 
God in all things, so that then we can each 
one of us say what Jesus our Saviour said: 
" I do always the things that please him " 
(John viii. 29). Certainly he who in re- 
ligion lives without self-will may say and 
- hope that in all that he does he pleases 
God, whether he studies or prays or hears 
confession, whether he goes to the refectory 
or to recreation or to. rest ; for in relig- 
ion not a step is made, not a breath drawn, 
but in obedience to the Rule, or to Superi- 
ors. 

The world does not know, and even cer- 
tain persons given to spirituality have lit- 
tle idea of, the great value of a Community 
life under obedience. It is true that out- 
side of religious Communities there are to 
be found many persons who do much, and, 
may be, more than those that live under 
obedience ; they preach, do penance, pray, 
and fast : but in all this they consult more 
or less their own will. God grant that at 
the day of judgment they may not have to 
lament as those mentioned in Scripture : 
" Why have we fasted, and Thou hast not 
regarded : why have we humbled our souls, 
and Thou hast not taken notice ? Behold, 
in the day of your fast your own will is 



Dispositions for Entering Religion, 45 

found !" (Jsa. lviii. 3.) On which passage 
St. Bernard remarks : " Self-will is a great 
evil, for it is the cause that what is good in 
itself may be for you no good at all " {In 
Cant. s. 71). This is to be understood, when 
in all these exercises one seeks not God, but 
one's self. On the contrary, he who does 
all by obedience is sure that in all he pleases 
God. The Venerable Mother Mary of Jesus 
said that she prized so much her vocation to 
religion principally for two reasons: the first 
was that in the monastery she enjoyed 
always the presence and company of Jesus 
in the Blessed Sacrament; and the other 
was that there by obedience she entirely 
belonged to God, sacrificing to him her 
own will. 

It is related by Father Rodriguez that 
after the death of Dositheus, the disciple of 
St. Dorotheus, the Lord revealed that in 
those five years he had lived under obedi- 
ence, though by reason of his infirmities he 
could not practise the austerities of the 
other monks, yet by the virtue of obedience 
he had merited the reward of St. Paul the 
Hermit, and of St. Antony, Abbot. 

He, then, who wishes to enter religion 
must resolve to renounce altogether his 
own will, and to will only what holy obedi- 



46 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation, 

ence wills. God preserve any religious 
from ever letting fall from his mouth the 
words / will or / will not! But in all 
things, even when asked by Superiors, what 
he desires, he should only answer, / wish 
that which holy obedie7ice wills. And, pro- 
vided there is no evident sin, he should in 
every command imposed on him obey 
blindly and without examination; because 
the duty of examining and deciding the 
doubts belongs not to him, but to his Su- 
periors. Otherwise, if in obeying he does 
not submit his own judgment to that of the 
Superior, his obedience will be imperfect. 
St. Ignatius of Loyola said that prudence 
in things of obedience is not required in sub- 
jects, but in Superiors; and tf there is pru- 
dence in obeying, it is to obey without pru- 
dence. St. Bernard says, "Perfect obedi- 
ence is indiscreet" (De Vit. sol.); and in an- 
other place he said, " For a prudent novice 
to remain in the congregation is an impos- 
sible thing;" and adding the reason for it, 
he said : " To judge belongs to the Superior, 
and to obey to the subject" (Ibid.). 

But to make progress in this virtue of 
obedience, on which all depends, he must 
always keep his mind ready to do all that 
to which he feels the greatest repugnance, 



Dispositions for Entering Religion. 47 

and on the contrary he must be prepared 
to bear it quietly when he sees that all that 
he seeks or desires is refused to him. It 
will happen that when he wishes to be in 
solitude, to apply himself to prayer or 
study, he will be the most employed in ex- 
terior occupations. For, though it is true 
that in religion one leads as much as possi- 
ble a solitary life when at home, and that 
for this end there are many hours of silence, 
the retreat each year of ten days in perfect 
silence, and of one day each month, besides 
the fifteen days before the receiving of the 
habit, and one of fifteen before the profes- 
sion, when the vows are made, — neverthe- 
less, if it is an Order of priests called to 
work and to be employed for the salvation 
of souls, the subject, if he is continually 
employed in this by obedience, should be 
content with the prayers and exercises of 
the Community. He must be prepared 
sometimes to go»even without these, when 
obedience will have him do so, without 
either excusing himself or being disquieted, 
being well persuaded of that of which St. 
Mary Magdalene of Pazzi was so confident 
when she said that: "All the things which 
are done through obedience are but so many 
prayers." 



48 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 



V. Trials which we must Expect to have in 
Religious Life. 

"XiT^THEN, then, any one has thus en- 
*\$kP tered religion, however truly he 
^ may be called, and though he 

may have conquered all his passions and 
his earthly affections, let him not imagine 
that he will be exempt from other temp- 
tations and trials, which God himself will 
send him, such as tediousness, darkness, 
various fears, in order to establish him 
more firmly in his vocation. We must 
remember that even the saints, who have 
loved their vocation the most, have some- 
times suffered great darkness with regard 
to it, and that it seemed to them as if they 
were deceived and would not be able to 
save themselves in that state. So it hap- 
pened with St. Teresa, St. John of the 
Cross, St. Frances de Chantal. But by 
recommending themselves to God, that 
darkness was dissipated, and they recov- 
ered their peace of mind. Thus the Lord 
tries his most beloved children, as it was 
said to Tobias : " Because thou wast accept- 
able to God, it was necessary that tempta- 



Trials to be Expected in Religion. 49 

tion should prove thee" (Tod. xii. 13). And 
in the book of Deuteronomy: "The Lord 
your God trieth you, that it may appear 
whether you love him or no" (Dent. xiii. 3). 
Let each one therefore prepare himself to 
suffer in religion this obscurity. It will 
sometimes appear to him that he cannot 
bear the observances of the Order ; that he 
will have no more peace of mind, or will 
not even be able to save himself. But 
most of all, every one must be on his guard 
when the temptation presents specious scru- 
ples or pretexts of greater spiritual good, 
in order to make him abandon his voca- 
tion. 

The principal remedies in such tempta- 
tions are two in number. 

First remedy : To have recourse to God. 

The first is to have recourse to prayer : 
" Go ye to him and be enlightened " (Ps. 
xxxiii. 6). For as it will not be possible for 
temptation to overcome him who has re- 
course to prayer, so he who does not rec- 
ommend himself to God will surely be 
overcome by it. And let it be remarked, 
that sometimes it will not suffice to have 
recourse to God once, or for a few days, to 
become victorious. Perhaps the Lord will 



50 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

permit the temptation to continue, even 
after we have prayed for several weeks, 
months, and even years ; but let us be as- 
sured that he who ceases not to recom- 
mend himself to God will certainly be en- 
lightened and victorious, and thereafter he 
will have more peace and be more firm in 
his vocation. 

Until we have gone through that storm, 
which for the most part comes over all, let 
none of us think himself secure. Let it be 
remarked, however, that in this time of 
temptation we should not expect to have 
fervor, and a clearness of reason sufficient 
to tranquillize ourselves ; for in the midst 
of this darkness we see nothing but confu- 
sion. We have nothing then to do but to 
say to the Lord : O Lord, help me ! O Lord, 
help me ! and also to have frequently re- 
course to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is 
the Mother of perseverance, confiding in 
that divine promise : " Ask, and you shall 
receive" {John xvi. 24). And it is certain 
that he who with the help of divine grace 
is victorious in such a combat finds after- 
wards a double calm and peace in his voca- 
tion. 



Trials to be Expected in Religion, 5 1 

Second remedy : To have recourse to the 
Superiors. 

The second remedy, and a principal and 
necessary one in such temptations, is to 
communicate to the Superiors, or to the 
spiritual Father of the Community, the 
temptation that afflicts you, and this at 
once, before the temptation becomes strong. 
St. Philip Neri said that when a temptation 
is thus manifested it is half vanquished. 
On the contrary, there is in such a case no 
greater evil than to conceal the temptation 
from Superiors ; for then, on the one hand, 
God withdraws his light because of the little 
fidelity shown by the subject in not disclos- 
ing it, and on the other, whilst the mine is 
not sprung, the temptation gains strength. 
Hence it may be held for certain, that he 
will surely lose his vocation who, when he 
is tempted against it, does not disclose his 
temptations. 

Let it be understood that in religion the 
most dangerous temptations that hell can 
bring against a subject are those against 
vocation, in which, if it should succeed and 
conquer, by that one stroke it will have 
gained many victories ; for when a subject 
has lost his vocation and left religion, what 



52 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

good will he further be able to do in the 
service of God ? Though the enemy may 
make him believe that out of religion he 
will have more peace and be able to do 
more good, nevertheless let him hold for 
certain, that as soon as he is out of it he 
will feel such a remorse in his heart that he 
will never more have peace. And God 
grant that such a remorse may not torment 
him afterwards through all eternity in hell, 
in which, as has already been said, he who 
through his own fault loses his vocation 
falls so very easily. He will be so luke- 
warm and discouraged in doing good, that 
he will not even have the courage to raise 
his eyes to heaven. It will be an easy thing 
for him to give up prayer altogether, be- 
cause as often as he begins it he will feel a 
hell of remorse, hearing his conscience re- 
proach him, and saying : What hast thou 
done ? thou hast abandoned God; thou hast lost 
thy vocation, and for what ? — to follow thine 
own caprice, to please thy parents. Let him 
be certain that he will have to hear this re- 
proach through his whole life, and still 
more shall he hear it made to him in the 
hour of his death, when, in sight of eternity, 
instead of dying in the house of God and 
in the midst of good brethren in religion, 



Conclusion. 53 

he will have to die outside of the Commu- 
nity, perhaps in his own house, in the midst 
of his relatives, to please whom he has dis- 
pleased God. Let religious always beseech 
God to let them die rather than to permit 
that greatest of disgraces, the greatness of 
which they will better understand at the 
hour of death and to their greater torment, 
because then there will be no more any 
remedy for their error. For him, then, who 
is tempted against his vocation this is the 
best meditation that he can make at the 
time of the temptation, that is, namely, to 
reflect what torment the remorse of having 
lost his vocation, and of having to die out of 
religion, through his own caprice, through 
his own fault, will cause him at the hour of 
death. 

Conclusion. 

Finally, let him who wishes to enter re- 
ligion not forget to resolve to become a 
saint, and to suffer every exterior and in- 
terior pain, in order to be faithful to God, 
and not to lose his vocation. And if he be 
not resolved to do this, I exhort him not to 
deceive the Superiors and himself, and not 
to enter at all, for this is a sign that he is 
not called, or, which is a still greater evil, 
that he wishes not to correspond, as he 



54 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

should, with the grace of his vocation 
Hence, with so bad a disposition it is better 
to remain without, in order to acquire a 
better disposition, and to resolve to give 
himself entirely to God, and to suffer all 
or God. Otherwise he will do an injury, 
both to himself and to the Order ; for he 
will easily go back to the world, and then, 
being disgraced before the world, as well as 
before God, he will be guilty of a still fur- 
ther infidelity to his vocation, and will lose 
the confidence in the power of taking 
another step in the way of God. God only 
knows into what other misfortunes and sins 
he may afterwards fall. 

On the other hand, a beautiful sight it is 
to see in religion souls wholly given to God, 
who live in the world as if out of the world, 
without any other thought than that of 
pleasing God. 

In religion each one has to live only for 
eternal life. What happiness for us, if we 
spend these few days of our life for God ! 
And to this he is most especially obliged 
who has perhaps already spent much of 
his life in the service of the world. Let 
us set eternity before our eyes, and then 
we shall suffer all with peace and joyful- 
ness. 



Conclusion. 5 5 

Let us thank God, who gives us so much 
light and so many means to serve him per- 
fectly, since he has chosen us, from among 
so many, to serve him in religion, having 
bestowed on us the gift of his holy love 
Let us make haste to please him in the 
practice of virtue, reflecting, as St. Teresa 
said to her daughters, that we have al- 
ready by his grace done the principal thing 
necessary to become saints, by turning our 
backs on the world and all its goods; the 
least yet remains to be done, in order that 
we may be saints. I hold it for certain, that 
for those who die in religion, Jesus Christ 
has prepared a prominent place in paradise. 
On this earth we shall be poor, despised, 
and treated as fools, as imprudent men, but 
in the other life our lot will be changed. 

Let us always recommend ourselves to our 
Redeemer hidden in the Sacrament, and to 
Most Holy Mary, because in religion all 
subjects must profess a most special love 
for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and for 
the Immaculate Virgin Mary, and let us 
have great confidence. Jesus Christ has 
chosen us to be princes of his court, as we 
may confidently conclude from the protec- 
tion that he extends to all religious Orders, 
and to each member of them. " The Lord 






56 Counsels Concerning Religious Vocation. 

is my light and my salvation, whom shall I 
fear?" (Ps. xxvi. 1.) 

O Lord ! finish Thy work, and for Thy 
glory grant us to be all Thine, so that all 
the members of Thy Orders may until the 
day of judgment be pleasing to Thee, and 
gain over to Thee an immense number of 
souls. Amen. Amen. 



(HonzibtxationB for tfjose toljo axe 
talkh to tlj* Edigious State. 



Consideration I. 

How the Salvation of the Soul is secured by 
entering the Religious State. 

\0 know how important is the eternal 
salvation of our soul, it suffices to 
have faith, and to consider that we 
have but one soul, and when that is lost, 
all is lost. "What doth it profit a man, 
if he gain the whole world, and suffer the 
loss of his own soul ?" (Matt. xvi. 26.) This 
great maxim of the Gospel has induced 
many youths either to shut themselves up 
in cloisters, or to live in deserts, or by 
martyrdom to give up their lives for Jesus 
Christ. For, said they, what does it profit 
us to possess the whole world, and all the 
goods of this world, in this present life, 
which must soon finish, and then be 
damned and be miserable in that life to 
57 



5 8 Considerations on the Religious State. 

come, which will never end ? All those rich 
men, all those princes and emperors, who 
are now in hell, — what have they now of all 
that they enjoyed in this life, but a greater 
torment and a greater despair? Miserable 
beings, they lament now and say : " All those 
things are passed away like a shadow" ( Wisd. 
v. 9). For them all is passed like a shadow, 
like a dream, and that lamentation which is 
their lot has lasted already many years, and 
shall last throughout eternity. " The fashion 
of this world passeth away " (1 Cor. vii. 
31). This world is a scene that lasts but a 
short time; happy he that plays on this 
scene the part that will afterwards make 
him happy in the life that shall never end ! 
When he shall then be contented, honored, 
and a prince in paradise, so long as God 
shall be God, little will he care for having 
been in this world poor, despised, and in 
tribulation. For this end only has God 
placed us on this earth, and keeps us here 
in life, not to acquire transitory but eternal 
goods : " The end is life everlasting " {Rom. 
vi. 22). 

This is the sole end which all men that 
live in the world should have in view. But 
the misfortune is, that in the world one 
thinks little or nothing of everlasting life. 



How Salvation is Secured. 59 

In tfie midst of the darkness of this Egypt 
the greatest number of men bestow all their 
care on acquiring honor and pleasures ; and 
this is the reason why so many perish. 
" With desolation is all the land made deso- 
late, because there is none that considereth 
in the heart" {Jer. xii. 11). How few are 
they who reflect on death, by which for us 
the scene is closed, on the eternity which 
awaits us, on what God has done for our 
sake ! And thence it comes that these 
miserable beings live in blindness and at 
random, far from God, having their eyes, 
like the beasts, intent only on earthly things, 
without remembering God, without desiring 
his love, and without a thought of eternity. 
Therefore they die afterwards an unhappy 
death, which will be the beginning of an 
eternal death and an endless misery. Hav- 
ing at last arrived there, they will finally 
open their eyes, but it will be only to lament 
for their own foolishness. 

This is the great means of salvation which 
is found in religion, to wit, the continual 
meditation on the eternal truths. " Remem- 
ber thy last end, and thou shalt never sin " 
{Ecclus. vii. 40). In all well-regulated reli- 
gious houses this is done every day, and 
even several times a day. And therefore 



60 Considerations on the Religious State. 

in this light of divine things, which there 
shines continually, it is morally impossible 
to live, at least for a long time, far from 
God, and without keeping one's account 
ready for eternity. 

Prayer, 

O my God ! how have I ever deserved 
this great mercy, that, having left so many 
others to live in the midst of the world, 
Thou hast willed to call me, who have of- 
fended Thee more than others, and deserved, 
more than they, to be deprived of Thy 
divine light, to enjoy the honor of living as 
a friend in Thy own house ! O Lord ! grant 
that I may understand this exceeding grace 
which Thou hast bestowed on me, that I 
may always thank Thee for it, as I purpose 
and hope to do always during my life and 
throughout eternity, and do not permit me 
to be ungrateful for it. Since Thou hast 
been so liberal towards me, and hast in Thy 
love preferred me to others, it is but just 
that more than others I should serve and 
love Thee. O my Jesus ! Thou wouldst have 
me to be wholly Thine, and to Thee I give 
myself wholly. Accept me, and hencefor- 
ward keep me as Thy own, since I am no 
more mine. Finish Thou the work which 



Happiness of the Religious at Death. 6 1 

Thou hast begun. Thou hast called me to 
Thy house, because Thou wilt have me be- 
come a saint. Make me, then, what Thou 
wilt have me. Do this, O eternal Father! 
for the love of Jesus Christ, in whom is all 
my confidence. I love Thee, my sovereign 
good, I love Thee. O infinite goodness, I 
love Thee only, and will love Thee forever. 
O Mary, my hope, come to my assistance, 
and obtain for me to be always faithful and 
thankful to my Lord. 

Consideration II. 

The Happiness of the Religious at Death. 

> LESSED are the dead who die in the 
Lord" {Apoc. xiv. 13). And who 
are those blessed dead who die in 
the Lord, but the religious, who at the end 
of their lives are found already dead to the 
world, having already detached themselves 
by their holy vows from the world and all 
its goods ? 

Consider, my brother, how content you 
will feel if, following your vocation, it will 
be your good fortune to die in the house of 
God. The devil will certainly represent to 
you that if you retire into the house of 
God you may perhaps afterwards repent of 



62 Considerations on the Religious State, 



& * 



having left your own house and your own 
country, and deprived your parents of the 
help that they might have expected from 
you. But say to yourself: Shall I at the 
point of death repent of having put my 
resolution into execution, or shall I be con- 
tent ? I beseech you therefore to imagine 
yourself now already at the point of death, 
about to appear before the tribunal of Jesus 
Christ. Reflect what then, reduced to that 
state, you would wish to have done. Per- 
haps to have contented your parents, to 
have worked for your own family and your 
country, and then to die surrounded by 
brothers and nephews and relatives, after 
having lived in your own house, with the 
title of a pastor, of a canon, of a bishop, of 
a member of the cabinet, and after having 
done your own will ? or rather, to die in the 
house of God, assisted by your good brethren 
in religion, who encourage you on the great 
passage tyD eternity, after having lived many 
years in religion, humbled, mortified, poor, 
far from parents, deprived of your own will, 
and under obedience, and detached from 
everything of the world, — all these things 
render death sweet and agreeable ? " He 
who has been accustomed to deprive himself 
of the delights of the world will not regret 



Happiness of the Religious at Death. 63 

doing so when he has to leave it," says St. 
Bernard. Pope Honorius II., when dying, 
wished that he had remained in his monas- 
tery, occupied in washing the plates, and 
had not been Pope. Philip II. wished at 
his death that he had been a lay-brother in 
some religious Order, intent on serving 
God, and had not been a king. Philip III., 
also king of Spain, said when he was dying: 
" Oh, that I had been in a desert, there to 
serve God, and that I had never been a 
monarch, for had such been the case, I 
should now appear with more confidence 
before the tribunal of Jesus Christ." 

When, then, hell tempts you about your 
vocation, think of the hour of death, and set 
before your eyes that all-important moment 
"upon which eternity depends." Thus you 
will overcome all temptations, you will be 
faithful to God, and certainly you will not 
repent of it at the point of death, but will 
give thanks to the Lord, and die contented. 
Gerard, brother of St. Bernard, died sing- 
ing, at the very thought of dying in the 
house of God. 

Father Suarez, of the Society of Jesus, 
felt at his death so great consolation and 
sweetness at dying in religion, that he said : 
**I never thought it was so sweet to die." 



64 Considerations on the Religious State. 

Another good religious, of the same Society, 
when at the point of death, laughed ; and 
being asked why he laughed, answered : 
" And why should I not laugh ? Has not 
Jesus Christ himself promised paradise to 
him who leaves everything for his sake? 
Was it not he who said : ' Every one that 
hath left house, or brethren, or father, etc. 
shall receive a hundred-fold, and shall pos- 
sess life everlasting'? {Matt, xix. 29.) I 
have left all for God ; God is faithful ; he 
cannot fail to fulfil his promises ; and so he 
said : Why should I not rejoice and laugh, 
seeing myself assured of paradise ?" 

A certain lay-brother who died some 
years ago was asked at his death in which 
house he would rather be. He answered : 
" I desire nothing but to die and to be 
united with God." 

Father Januarius Sarnelli, a short time 
before his death, when conversing with God, 
uttered the following words : " O Lord, 
Thou knowest that all I have done, all I 
have thought, has been for Thy glory; 
now I wish to go to see Thee face to face, if 
it please Thee so ;" then he said : " Come, 
I will begin a sweet agony," and began 
to converse affectionately with God ; and 
shortly after placidly expired, preserving 



Happiness of the Religious at Death. 65 

the smile on his lips, and the body began 
to give forth a sweet odor, which, as they 
attested, was perceived for several days in 
the room in which he had' died. 

St. Bernard, speaking of the happy state 
I of religious, had then good reason to ex- 
claim : "O secure life, in which death is 
expected without fear, aye, sweetly desired 
and devoutly accepted !" (Ad Mil. T. c. 1.) 

Prayer. 

O my Lord Jesus Christ, who, in order to 
obtain a happy death for me, hast chosen 
so bitter a death for Thyself ; since Thou 
hast loved me to such an extent as to have 
chosen me to follow more closely Thy holy 
life, to have me thus more intimately 
united with Thy loving heart, bind me, I 
beseech Thee, wholly to Thee with the 
sweet cords of Thy love, that I may no 
more separate myself from Thee. O my 
beloved Redeemer, I wish to be grateful to 
Thee, and to correspond with Thy grace, 
but I fear my weakness may render me un- 
faithful ; O my Jesus, do not permit this. 
Let me die rather than abandon Thee, or 
forget the peculiar affection that Thou hast 
shown me. I love Thee, O my dear Sa- 
viour ! Thou art and shalt always be the 



66 Considerations on the Religious State. 



'& * 



only Lord of my heart and of my soul. I 
leave all and choose Thee alone for my 
treasure, most pure Lamb of God ! O 
my most ardent ' lover. "My beloved is 
white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands" 
{Cant. v. 10). Begone, ye creatures ! my 
only good is my God : he is my love, my all. 
I love Thee, O my Jesus, and in loving 
Thee I will spend the remainder of my life, 
be it short or be it long. I embrace Thee, 
I press Thee to my heart, and I wish to die 
united with Thee. I wish nothing else.* 
Make me to live always burning with Thy 
love, and when I shall have arrived at the 
end of my life, make me to expire in an 
ardent act of love towards Thee. 

Immaculate Virgin Mary, obtain thou 
this grace for me ; I hope it from thee. 

Consideration III. 

The account that he will have to render to 
Jesus Christ, on the day of judgment, who 
does not follow his vocation. 

tHE grace of vocation to the religious 
state is not an ordinary grace : it is a 
very rare one, which God grants only 
to a few. " He hath not done in like manner 
to every nation" (Ps. cxlvii). Oh, how much 
greater is this grace of vocation to a perfect 



Account on Judgment-day. 67 

life and to become one of the household 
of God, than if one were called to be the 
king of any kingdom on this earth ! for what 
comparison can there be between a temporal 
kingdom of this earth and the eternal king- 
dom of heaven ? 

But the greater the grace is, the greater 
will be the indignation of the Lord against 
him who has not corresponded with it, and 
the more rigorous will be his judgment at 
the day of account. If a king were to call 
a poor shepherd to his royal palace, to 
serve him among the noblemen of his 
court, what would not be the indignation 
of this king were he to refuse such a favor 
through unwillingness to leave his misera- 
ble stable and his little flock ? God knows 
well the value of his graces, and therefore 
he chastises with severity those who de- 
spise them. He is the Lord ; when he 
calls he wishes to be obeyed, and obeyed 
promptly. When, therefore, by his inspira- 
tion he calls a soul to a perfect life, if it 
does not correspond he deprives it of his 
light, and abandons it to its own darkness. 
Oh, how many poor souls shall we see 
among the reprobate on the day of judg- 
ment for this very reason, that they w r ere 
called and would not correspond ! 



68 Considerations on the Religious State. 

Give thanks, then, to the Lord, who has 
invited you to follow him ; but fear if you 
do not correspond. Since God calls you 
to serve him nearer to his person, it is a 
sign that he wishes to save you. But he 
will have you to be saved in that path only 
which he indicates to you and has chosen 
for you. If you wish to save yourself on a 
road of your own choosing, there is great 
danger that you will not be saved at all ; 
for if you remain in the world, when God 
wishes "you to be a religious, he will not 
give you those efficacious helps prepared 
for you had you lived in his house, and 
without these you will not save yourself. 
"My sheep hear my voice" {John x. 27). 
He who will not obey the voice of God 
shows that he is not and will not be one of 
his sheep, but in the valley of Josaphat will 
be condemned with the goats. 

Prayer. 
O Lord, Thou hast shown me such an 
excess of bounty as to choose me from 
among so many others, to serve Thee in 
Thy own house with Thy most beloved 
servants. I know how great is that grace 
and how unworthy of it I have been. Be- 
hold, I am willing to correspond to a love 



Account on Judgment-day. 69 

so great. I will obey Thee. Since Thou 
hast been towards me so liberal as to 
call me when I did not seek Thee, and 
when I was so ungrateful, permit not 
that I should offer to Thee that greater ex- 
cess of ingratitude — to embrace again my 
enemy, the world, in which heretofore I 
have often forfeited Thy grace and my 
eternal salvation, and thus to forsake Thee, 
who hast shed Thy blood and given Thy 
life for my sake. Since Thou hast called 
me, give me also the strength to corre- 
spond to the call. Already have I prom- 
ised to obey Thee. I promise this again, but 
without the grace of perseverance I cannot 
be faithful to Thee. This perseverance 
I ask of Thee, and through Thy own 
merits it is that I wish it and hope to ob- 
tain it. Give me the courage to vanquish 
the passions of the flesh, through which the 
devil seeks to bring me to betray Thee. I 
love Thee, O my Jesus ; to Thee I conse- 
crate myself entirely. I am already Thine, 
I will be always Thine. 

O Mary, my mother and my hope, thou 
art the mother of perseverance : this grace 
is only dispensed through thy hands ; do 
thou obtain it for me: in thee do I confide. 



70 Considerations on the Religious State. 



Consideration IV. 

The Torment which in Hell shall be the Lot 
of Hi?n who is Damned for having Lost 
His Vocation. 

\HE pain of having through one's own 
fault lost some great good, or of hav- 
ing brought upon one's self volunta- 
rily some great evil, is a pain so great that 
even in this life it causes an insupportable 
torment. But what torment will that youth, 
called by the singular favor of God to the 
religious state, feel in hell, when he then 
perceives that, if he had obeyed God, he 
would have attained a high place in paradise, 
and sees himself nevertheless confined in 
that prison of torments, without hope of 
remedy for this his eternal ruin? " Their 
worm dieth not" {Mark ix. 43). 

This will be that worm which, living al- 
ways, shall always gnaw his heart by a con- 
tinual remorse. He will say then : What a 
fool I was ! I might have become a great 
saint. And if I had obeyed, I would cer- 
tainly have become so ; and now I am 
damned without remedy. 

Miserable being! Then, for his greater 



The Penalty for having Lost Vocation, 71 

torment, on the day of judgment he will 
see and recognize at the right hand, and 
crowned as saints, those who have followed 
their vocation, and, leaving the world, have 
retired to the house of God, to which he 
also had been once called. And then shall 
he see himself separated from the company , 
of the blessed, and placed in the midst of 
that innumerable and miserable crew of the 
damned for his disobedience to the voice of 
God. 

We know well, as we have considered 
above, that to this most unhappy lot he ex- 
poses himself who, in order to follow his 
own caprice, turns a deaf ear to the call of 
God. Therefore, my brother, you who have 
already been called to become a saint in 
the house of God, consider that you will 
expose yourself to a great danger should 
you lose your vocation through your own 
fault. And this very vocation which God in 
his sovereign bounty has given you, in or- 
der, as it were, to take you out from among 
the mass and place you among the chosen 
princes of his paradise, will, through your 
own fault, should you be unfaithful to it, 
become an especial hell for you. Make 
your choice, then ; for God leaves it in your 
own hands either to be a great king in 



72 Considerations on the Religious State. 

paradise or a reprobate in hell, more de- 
spairing than the rest. 

Prayer. 
No, my God, permit me not to disobey 
Thee and to be unfaithful. I see Thy good- 
ness, and thank Thee because, instead of 
casting me away from Thy face and banish- 
ing me into hell, as I have so often de- 
served, Thou callest me to become a saint, 
and preparest for me a high place in para- 
dise. I see that I should deserve a double 
torment should I not correspond with this 
grace which is not given to all. I will obey 
Thee. Behold, I am Thine, and always will 
be Thine. I embrace with joy all the pains 
and discomforts of the religious life to 
which Thou invitest me. And what are 
these pains in comparison with the eternal 
pains that I have deserved ? I was entirely 
lost through my sins ; now I give myself 
entirely to Thee. Dispose of me and my 
life as Thou pleasest. Accept, O Lord, of 
one already condemned to hell, as I have 
been, to serve Thee and love Thee in this 
life and in the next. I will love Thee as 
much as I have deserved to be doomed to 
hate Thee in hell, O God, worthy of an in- 
finite love ! O my Jesus, Thou hast broken 



Glory of Religious in Heaven, 73 

those chains by which the world held me 
bound ; Thou hast delivered me from the 
servitude of my enemies. I will love Thee 
much, then, O my Love ; and for the love I 
bear Thee, I will always love Thee and 
obey Thee. 

Always will I thank thee, O Mary, my 
advocate, who hast obtained this mercy for 
me. Help me, and suffer me not to be un- 
grateful to that God who has loved me so 
much. Obtain for me that I may die 
rather than be unfaithful to so great a 
grace. Thus I hope. 

Consideration V. 

The Immense Glory that Religious enjoy i?i 
Heaven. 

^ONSIDER, in the first place, that 
o\ which St. Bernard says — that it is 
difficult for religious, who die in 
the religious state, to be damned. " From 
the cell to heaven the way is easy ; one 
scarcely ever descends from his cell into 
hell." And the reason which the saint ad- 
duces is, " because one scarcely ever perse- 
veres in it until death, unless he be pre- 
destinated" (Be Vita sol. c. 4). For a relig- 
ious with difficulty perseveres until his 



74 Considerations on the Religious State. 

death, if he is not of the number of the 
elect of paradise. Therefore, St. Laurence 
Justinian called the religious state the gate 
of paradise. " Of that heavenly city this is 
the gate." And he said that " therefore 
the religious have a great sign of their pre- 
destination" (De Disc. 7)1071. c. 7). 

Consider, moreover, that the reward of 
heaven, as the Apostle says, is "a crown of 
justice " (2 Tim. iv. 8) ; wherefore God, 
though he rewards us for our works more 
abundantly than we deserve, rewards us, 
nevertheless, in proportion to the works we 
have done. " He will render to every man 
according to his works" {Matt. xvi. 27). 
From this consider how exceedingly great 
will be the reward which God will give in 
heaven to good religious, in consideration 
of the great merits which they daily ac- 
quire. 

The religious gives to God all his goods 
of this earth, and is content to be entirely 
poor, without possessing anything. The 
religious renounces all attachment to his 
parents, friends, and country, in order to 
unite himself more closely with God. The 
religious continually mortifies himself in 
many things which he would enjoy in the 
world. The religious, finally, gives to God 



Glory of Religious in Heave?i. 7 5 

his whole self by giving him his will 
through the vow of obedience. 

But the dearest thing that we have is our 
own will ; and what God, of all other things, 
requires of us most, is our heart, that is, 
our will. "My son, give me thy heart" 
{Prov. xxiii. 26). He who serves God in 
the world will give him his possessions, but 
not himself; he will give him a part, and 
not the whole ; for he will give him indeed 
his goods by alms-deeds, his food by fast- 
ing, his blood by disciplines, etc.: but he 
will always reserve for himself his own will, 
fasting when he pleases, praying when he 
likes. But the religious, giving him his 
own will, gives himself and gives all ; gives 
not only the fruits of the tree, but the 
whole tree itself. Hence, he may then truly 
say to him : O Lord ! having given Thee 
my will, I have nothing more to give Thee. 

Therefore, in all that he does through 
obedience he is sure to do the will of God 
perfectly, and merits in all things, not only 
when he prays, when he hears confessions, 
when he preaches, or fasts, or practises 
other mortifications, but also when he takes 
his food, when he sweeps his room, when he 
makes his b'ed, when he takes his rest, when 
he recreates himself; for doing all this 



*j6 Considerations on the Religious State, 

through obedience, he does in all the will 
of God. St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi 
said that all that is done through obedience 
is a prayer. Hence St. Anselm, speaking 
of those who love obedience, asserted that 
all that religious do is meritorious for them. 
St. Aloysius Gonzaga said that in religion 
one sails as it were in a vessel, in which he 
even advances who does not row. 

Oh, how much more will a religious gain 
in one month by observing his Rule, than a 
secular, with all his penance and prayers, in 
a year ! Of that disciple of Dorotheus, 
called Dositheus, it was revealed that for 
the five years he had lived under obedience 
there was given to him in heaven the glory 
of St. Paul, Hermit, and of St. Antony, 
Abbot, both of whom had for so many 
years lived in the desert. Religious, it is 
true, have to suffer the inconveniences of 
regular observance : " Going, they went 
and wept." But when they shall be called 
to the other life, they will go to heaven, 
but "coming, they shall come with joyful- 
ness, carrying their sheaves" (Ps. cxxv. 6). 
Hence they shall then sing: "The lines 
are fallen unto me in goodly places, for my 
inheritance is goodly to me" (Ps, xv. 6). 
These bonds which have bound me to the 



Glory of Religious in Heaven. 7 7 

Lord have become for me exceedingly 
precious, and the glory they have acquired 
for me is exceedingly great. 

Prayer. 

Is it possible, O my God and my true 
lover, that Thou desirest so much my good, 
and to be loved by me, and that I, miserable 
that I am, desire so little to love and to 
please Thee ? For what end hast Thou 
favored me with so many graces, and taken 
me out of the world ? O my Jesus, I un- 
derstand Thee : Thou lovest me much, Thou 
wilt have me love Thee much also, and be 
all Thine, in this life and in the next. Thou 
wishest that my love should not be divided 
with creatures, but wilt have it be wholly 
for Thyself, the only good, the only lovely 
one, and worthy of infinite love. Ah ! my 
Lord, my treasure, my love, my all, yet I 
pant and truly desire to love Thee, and to 
love no other but Thee. I thank Thee for 
this desire which Thou hast given me ; pre- 
serve it in me, always increase it in me, and 
grant that I may please Thee, and love 
Thee on this earth, as Thou desirest, so that 
I may come hereafter to love Thee face to 
face, w r ith all my strength, in paradise. 
Behold, this is all I ask from Thee ; Thee 



78 Considerations on the Religious State. 

will I love, O my God ! I will love Thee, 
and for Thy love I offer myself to sufter 
every pain. I will become a saint, not that 
I may enjoy great delight in heaven, but to 
please Thee much, O my beloved Lord, and 
to love Thee much forever. Graciously 
hear me, O eternal Father, for the love of 
Jesus Christ. 

My Mother Mary, for the love of this thy 
Son, help thou me. Thou art my hope; 
from thee I hope every good. 

Consideration VI. 

The Peace God gives Good Religious to Enjoy. 

*HE promises of God cannot fail ; God 
has said : " Every one that hath left 
house, or brethren, or sisters, or 
father, or mother, ... or lands, for my 
name's sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, 
and shall possess life everlasting " {Matt. 
xix. 29). That is, the hundred-fold on this 
earth, and life everlasting in heaven. 

The peace of the soul is a good which is 
of greater value than all the kingdoms of 
the world. And what avails it to have the 
dominions of the whole world without in- 
terior peace ? Better is it to be the poorest 
villager, and to be content, than to be the 
lord of the whole world, and to live a dis- 



Peace that God gives to Good Religious, 7 9 

contented life. But who can give this 
peace ? The unquiet world ? Oh, no ; peace 
is a good that is obtained only from God. 
"O God !" prays the Church, "give to Thy 
servants that peace which the world cannot 
give." Therefore he is called the God 
of all consolation. But if God is the sole 
giver of peace, to whom shall we suppose 
will he give that peace but to those who 
leave all, and detach themselves from ail 
creatures, in order to give themselves en- 
tirely to their Creator? And therefore is it 
seen, that good religious, shut up in their 
cells, though mortified, despised, and poor, 
live a more contented life than the great 
ones of the world, with all the riches, the 
pomps and diversions that they enjoy. 

St. Scholastica said that if men knew the 
peace which good religious enjoy, the whole 
world would become a monastery ; and St. 
Mary Magdalene of Pazzi said, that all, if 
they knew it, would scale the walls of the 
monasteries in order to enter them. The 
human heart having been created for an in- 
finite good, all creatures cannot content it, 
they being finite, imperfect, and few; only 
God, who is an infinite good, can render it 
content. " Delight in the Lord, and he will 
give thee the requests of thy heart" (Ps, 



80 Considerations on the Religious State. 

xxxvi. 4). Oh, no ; a good religious united 
with God envies none of the princes of the 
world who possess kingdoms, riches, and 
honors. " Let the rich," he will say with 
St. Paulinus, "have their riches, the kings 
have their kingdoms : to me, Christ is my 
kingdom and my glory" {Ep. ad Apruni). 
He will see those of the world foolishly 
glory in their displays and vanities ; but he, 
seeking always to detach himself more from 
earthly things, always to unite himself more 
closely to his God, will live contented in this 
life, and will say : " Some trust in chariots, 
and some in horses, but we will call upon 
the name of the Lord, our God" (Ps. xix. 8). 
St. Teresa said that one drop of heavenly 
consolation is of greater value than all the 
pleasures of the world. Father Charles of 
Lorraine, having become a religious, said 
that God by one moment of the happiness 
which he gave him to feel in religion, 
superabundantly paid him for all he had left 
for God. Hence his joyfulness was some- 
times so great that, when alone in his cell, 
he could not help beginning to leap. The 
Blessed Seraphino of Ascoli, a Capuchin 
lay-brother, said that he would not exchange 
a foot length of his cord for all the king- 
doms of the world. 



Peace that God gives to Good Religions. 8 1 

Oh, what content does he find who, hav- 
ing left all for God, is able to say with St. 
Francis, " My God and my all !" and with 
that to see himself freed from the servitude 
of the world, from the thraldom of worldly 
fashion, and from all earthly affections. 
This is the liberty enjoyed by the children 
of God, which good religious are. It is true 
that in the beginning the deprivation of 
the conversations and pastimes of the world, 
the observances of the Community, and the 
rules, seem to be thorns ; but these thorns, 
as our Lord said to St. Bridget, will all be- 
come flowers and delights to him who cour- 
ageously bears their first stings, and he will 
taste on this earth that peace which, as St. 
Paul says, surpasses all the gratifications of 
the senses, and all the enjoyments of feasts, 
of banquets, and of the pleasures of the 
world : " The peace of God, which surpasseth 
all understanding" (Phil. iv. 7). And what 
greater peace can there be, than to know 
that one pleases God ? 

Prayer. 

O my Lord and my God, my all, I know 
that Thou alone canst make me contented, 
in this life and in the next. But I will not 
love Thee for my own contentment ; I will 



82 Considerations on the Religious State, 



<b i 



love Thee only to content Thy heart. I 
wish this to be my peace, my only satisfac- 
tion during my whole life, to unite my will 
to Thy holy will, even should I have to 
suffer every pain in order to do this. Thou 
art my God, I am Thy creature. And what 
can I hope for greater than to please Thee, 
my Lord, my God, who hast been so par- 
tial in Thy love towards me ? Thou, my 
Jesus, hast left heaven to live for the love of 
me a poor and mortified life. I leave all to 
live only for the love of Thee, my most 
blessed Redeemer. I love Thee with my 
whole heart ; if only Thou wilt give me the 
grace to love Thee, treat me as Thou 
pleasest. 

O Mary, Mother of my God, protect me 
and render me like to thee, not in thy 
glory, which I do not deserve, as thou dost, 
but in pleasing God, and obeying his holy 
will, as thou didst. 

Consideration VII. 

The Damage done to Religious by Tepidity. 

y , CONSIDER the misery of that relig- 
*^ ious who, after having left his home, 
his parents, and the world with all 
its pleasures, and after having given himself 



Damage done to Religious by Tepidity. 83 

to Jesus Christ, consecrating to him his will 
and his liberty, exposes himself at last to 
the danger of being damned, by falling into 
a lukewarm and negligent life, and continu- 
ing therein. Oh, no, not far from perdition 
is a lukewarm religious who has been called 
into the house of God to become a saint. 
God threatens to reject such, and to aban- 
don them, if they do not amend. " But 
because thou art lukewarm, I will begin to 
vomit thee out of my mouth" (Aftoc. iii. 16). 

St. Ignatius of Loyola, seeing a lay- 
brother of his Order become lukewarm in 
the service of God, called him one day and 
said to him : Tell me, my brother, why did 
you come to religion ? He answered : To 
serve God. O my brother! replied the 
saint, what have you said ? If you had an- 
swered that you came to serve a cardinal, 
or a prince of this earth, you would be more 
excusable; but you say that you came to 
serve God, and do you serve him thus ? 

Father Nieremberg says that some are 
called by God to be saved only as saints, so 
that, if they should not take care to live as 
saints, thinking to be saved as imperfect 
Christians, they will not be saved at all. 
And St. Augustine says that such are in 
most cases abandoned by God : "Negligent 



84 Considerations on the Religious State. 

souls God is accustomed to abandon" (In 
Ps. cxviii. s. 10). And how does he abandon 
them? By permitting them from lighter 
faults, which they see, and do not mind, to 
fall into grievous ones, and lose divine grace 
and their vocation. St. Teresa of Jesus saw 
the place prepared for her in hell, had 
she not detached herself from an earthly, 
though not a grievously culpable affection. 
" He that contemneth small things, shall 
fall by little and little" (Ecclus. xix. 1). 

Many wish to follow Jesus Christ, but 
from afar as St. Peter did, who, when his 
Master was arrested in the garden, says St. 
Matthew, " followed him afar off " (Matt. 
xxvi. 58). But by doing so, that will easily 
happen to them which happened to St, 
Peter, namely, that when the occasion 
came he denied Jesus Christ. A lukewarm 
religious will be contented with what little 
he does for God ; but God, who called him 
to a perfect life, will not be contented, and 
in punishment for his ingratitude will not 
only deprive him of his special favors, but 
will sometimes permit his fall. " When 
you said, It is enough, then you perished" 
(Serm. 1 69, E. B.). The fig-tree of the Gos- 
pel was cast into the fire, only because it 
brought forth no fruit. 



Damage done to Religious by Tepidity. 85 

Father Louis de Ponte said: " I have com- 
mitted many faults, but I have never made 
peace with them." Miserable is that relig- 
ious who, being called to perfection, makes 
peace with his defects. As long as we de- 
test our imperfections, there is hope that 
we may still become saints; but when we 
commit faults and make little of them, then 
says St. Bernard, the hope of becoming 
saints is lost. " He who soweth sparingly, 
shall also reap sparingly" (2 Cor. ix. 6) 
Common graces do not suffice to make one 
a saint, extraordinary ones are necessary; 
but how will God be liberal with his favors 
towards the one that acts sparingly and 
with reserve in his love towards him ? 

Moreover, to become a saint one must 
have courage and strength to overcome all 
repugnances ; and let no one ever believe, 
says St. Bernard, that he will be able to at- 
tain to perfection if he does not render 
himself singular among others in the prac- 
tice of virtue. " What is perfect cannot 
but be singular." Reflect, my brother, for 
what you left the world and all. To become 
a saint. But that lukewarm and imperfect 
life which you lead, is that the way of be- 
coming a saint ? St. Teresa animated her 
daughters by saying to them : My sisters, 



86 Considerations on the Religious State. 



'5* 



you have done the principal thing necessary 
to become saints ; the least remains yet to be 
done. The same I say to you ; you have, 
perhaps, done the chief part already ; you 
have left your country, your home, your 
parents, your goods, and your amusements ; 
the least remains yet to be done, to become 
a saint ; do it. 

Prayer. 

O my God, reject me not, as I deserve, 
for I will amend. I know well that so neg- 
ligent a life as mine cannot satisfy Thee. 
I know that I have myself, by my luke- 
warmness, shut the door against the graces 
which Thou dost desire to bestow upon 
me. O Lord! do not yet abandon me; con- 
tinue to be merciful towards me ; I will rise 
from this miserable state. I will for the 
future be more careful to overcome my 
passions, to follow Thy inspirations, and 
never will I through slothfulness omit my 
duties, but I will fulfil them with greater 
diligence. In a word, I will from this time 
forward do all that I can to please Thee, 
and I will neglect nothing that I may know 
to be pleasing to Thee. Since Thou, O my 
Jesus ! hast been so liberal with Thy graces 
towards me, and hast deigned to give Thy 
blood and Thy life for me, there is no rea- 



How Dear to God a Soul Entirely His. 87 

son I should act with such reserve towards 
Thee. Thou art worthy of all honor, all 
love, and to please Thee one should gladly 
undergo every labor, every pain. But, O 
my Redeemer! Thou knowest my weak- 
ness ; help me with Thy powerful grace ; in 
Thee I confide. 

O immaculate Virgin Mary ! thou who 
hast helped me to leave the world, help me 
to overcome myself and to become a saint. 

Consideration VIII. 

How dear to God is a Soul that gives Itself 
eiitirely to Him. 

^\ OD loves all those who love him : " I 
love them that love me" (Prov. viii. 
17). Many, however, give them- 
selves to God, but preserve still in their 
hearts some attachment to creatures, which 
prevents them from belonging entirely to 
God. How then shall God give himself 
entirely to him who, besides his God, loves 
creatures still ? It is just that he should 
act with reserve towards those who act 
with reserve towards him. On the con- 
trary, he gives himself entirely to those 
souls who, driving from their hearts every- 
thing that is not God, and does not lead 




88 Considerations on the Religious State, 

them to his love, and giving themselves to 
him without reserve, truly say to him : 
44 My God and my all." St. Teresa, as long 
as she entertained an inordinate affection, 
though not an impure one, could not hear 
from Jesus Christ what afterwards she 
heard, when, freeing herself from every at- 
tachment, she gave herself entirely to the 
divine love, namely, the Lord saying to her : 
44 Now, because thou art all mine, I am all 
thine." 

Consider that the Son of God has already 
given himself entirely to us: " A Child is 
born to us, and a Son is given to us" (Isa. 
ix. 6). He has given himself to us through 
the love he bears to us. " He hath loved us, 
and hath delivered himself for us" (Eftkes. 
v. 2). It is then just, says St. John Chrys- 
ostom, that when a God has given himself 
to you without reserve, <4 He has given thee 
all — nothing has he left to himself," you 
also should give yourself to God without 
reserve, and that always henceforth, burning 
with divine love, you should sing to him : 

Thine wholly always will I be : 
Thou hast bestowed Thyself on me ; 
Wholly I give myself to Thee. 

St. Teresa revealed to one of her nuns, 
appearing to her after her death, that God 



How Dear to God a Soul Entirely His, 89 

loves one soul who, as a spouse, gives her- 
self entirely to him, more than a thousand 
tepid and imperfect ones. From these 
generous souls, given entirely to God, is the 
choir of Seraphim completed. The Lord 
himself says, that he loves a soul, who 
attends to her perfection, so much, that he 
seems not to love any other. " One is my 
dove ; my perfect one is but one" {Cant. vi. 
8). Hence Blessed Giles exhorted us : 
" One for one ;" by which he wished to say, 
that this one soul we have we should 
give wholly, not divided, to that one who 
alone deserves all love, on whom depends 
all our good, and who loves us more than 
all. " Leave all, and you shall find all," 
says Thomas a Kempis (B. III. c. 32). 
Leave all for God, and in God you shall 
find all. " O soul," concludes St. Bernard, 
" be alone, that you may keep yourself for 
him alone" (In Cant. s. 40). Keep yourself 
alone, give no part of your affections to 
creatures, that you may belong only to 
him who alone deserves an infinite love, 
and whom alone you should love. 

Prayer. 

" My Beloved to me, and I to him" (Cant. 
ii. 16). As then, O my God! Thou hast 



90 Considerations on the Religious State. 

given Thyself entirely to me, I should b& 
too ungrateful if I should not give myself 
entirely to Thee ; since Thou wouldst have 
me belong wholly to Thee, behold, O my 
Lord ! I give myself entirely to Thee. 
Accept me through Thy mercy ; disdain 
me not. Grant that this my heart, which 
once loved creatures, may turn now wholly 
to Thy infinite goodness. " Let me hence- 
forth die," said St. Teresa ; " let another 
than myself live in me. Let God live in 
me, and give me life. Let him reign, and 
let me be his slave, for my soul wishes no 
other liberty." This my heart is too small, 

God most worthy of love, and it is too 
little able to love Thee, who art deserving 
of an infinite love. I should then commit 
against Thee too great an injustice, should 

1 still divide it by loving anything besides 
Thee. I love Thee, my God, above every- 
thing. I love only Thee, I renounce all 
creatures, and give myself entirely to Thee, 
my Jesus, my Saviour, my love, my all. I 
say, and always will say : " What have I in 
heaven, and besides thee, what do I desire on 
earth ? . . . Thou art the God of my heart, 
and the God that is my portion forever" 
(Ps. lxxii. 25). I desire nothing; either in 
this life or in the next, but to possess the 



Desire Necessary to attain to Sanctity, 91 

treasure of Thy love. God of my heart, I 
am unwilling that creatures should have 
any more a place in my heart ; Thou alone 
must be its master. To Thee alone shall it 
belong for the future. Thou alone shalt be 
my God, my repose, my desire, all my love. 
I say with St. Ignatius : " Give me only Thy 
love and Thy grace, and I am rich enough." 
O most holy Virgin Mary, obtain for me 
this, that I may be faithful to God, and 
never recall the donation that I have made 
of myself to him. 

Consideration IX. 

How Necessary it is, in order to become a 
Saint, to have a great Desire for it. 

O saint has ever attained to sanctity 
J[\^nu without a great desire. As wings 
r<J C are necessary to birds in order to 
fly, so holy desires are necessary to the 
soul in order to advance in the road to per- 
fection. To become saints, we must detach 
ourselves from creatures, conquer our pas-' 
sions, overcome ourselves, and love crosses. 
But to do all this, much strength is required, 
and we must suffer much. But what is the 
effect of holy desire? St. Laurence Jus- 
tinian answers us : " It supplies strength, 



92 Considerations o?i the Religious State, 

and makes the pain easier to be borne" (De 
Dis. mon. c. 6). Hence the same saint adds, 
that he has already vanquished who has a 
great desire of vanquishing : " A great part 
of the victory is the desire of vanquishing" 
{De Casto Conn. c. 3;. He who wishes to 
reach the top of a high mountain will never 
reach it if he has not a great desire to do 
so. This will give him courage and strength 
to undergo the fatigue of ascending, other- 
wise he will stop at the foot wearied and 
discouraged. 

St. Bernard asserts that we acquire per- 
fecti6n in proportion to the desire for it 
which we preserve in our heart, and St. 
Teresa said that God loves generous souls 
that have great desires, for which reason the 
saint exhorted all in this way : " Let our 
thoughts be high, . . . for thence will come 
our good. We must not have low and little 
desires, but have that confidence in God, 
that, if we make the proper efforts, we shall 
by little and little attain to that perfection 
which, with His grace, the saints have 
reached." In this way the saints attained* 
in a short time, to a great degree of per- 
fection, and were able to do great things 
for God. " Being made perfect in a short 
time, he fulfilled a long time" ( Wisd. iv. 13), 



Desire Necessary to attain to Sanctity. 93 

Thus St. Aloysius Gonzaga attained in a 
few years (he lived not over twenty-three 
years) to such a degree of sanctity, that St. 
Mary Magdalene of Pazzi, in an ecstasy, 
seeing him in heaven, said, it seemed to her 
in a certain way that there was no saint in 
heaven who enjoyed a greater glory than 
Aloysius ; and she understood at the same 
time that he had arrived at so high a de- 
gree by the great desire he had cherished 
of being able to love God as much as he 
deserved, and that seeing this beyond his 
reach, the holy youth had suffered on earth 
a martyrdom of love. 

St. Bernard, being in religion, in order to 
excite his fervor used to say to himself : 
" Bernard, for what did you come here ?" 
I say the same to you : What have you come 
to do in the house of God ? To become a 
saint ? And what are you doing ? Why 
do you lose the time ? Tell me, do you 
desire to become a saint ? If you do not, it 
is certain you will never become one. If, 
then, you have not this desire, ask Jesus 
Christ for it, ask Mary for it. And if you 
have it, take courage, says St. Bernard, for 
many do not become saints, because they 
do not take courage. And so I repeat it, 
let us take courage, and great courage. 



94 Considerations on the Religious State. 

What do we fear? What inspires this diffi- 
dence in us ? That Lord who has given us 
strength to leave the world will give us also 
the grace to embrace the life of a saint. 
Everything comes to an end. Our life, be 
it a contented or a discontented one, will 
also come to an end, but eternity will never 
terminate. Only that little we have done 
for God will console us in death and 
throughout eternity. The fatigue will be 
short, eternal shall be the crown, which is 
already, so to speak, before our eyes. How 
satisfied are the saints now with all that 
they have suffered for God ! If a sorrow 
could enter paradise, the blessed would be 
sorry for this alone, that they have neglected 
to do for God what they might have done 
more, but which now they are unable to do. 
Take courage then, and be prompt, for there 
is no time to lose ; what can be done to-day, 
we may not be able to do to-morrow. St. 
Bernardine of Siena said that one moment 
of time is of as great a value as God him- 
self, for at every moment we may gain God, 
his divine grace, and higher degrees of 
merits. 

Prayer. 

Behold, O my God, here I am. " My 
heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready" 



Desire Necessary to attain to Sanctity. 95 

(Ps. lvi. 8). See, I am prepared to do ail 
Thou shalt require of me. " Lord, what 
wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts ix. 
6.) Tell me, O Lord, what Thou desirest 
of me. I will obey Thee in all. I am 
sorry for having lost so much time in 
which I might have pleased Thee, and yet 
have not done so. I thank Thee, that still 
Thou givest me time to do so. Oh, no, I 
will not lose any more time. I will and de- 
sire to become a saint, not to obtain from 
Thee a greater glory and more delights. 
I will become a saint, that I may love Thee 
more, and to please Thee in this life and in 
the next. Make me, O Lord ! to love and 
please Thee as much as Thou desirest. 
Behold, this is all that I ask of Thee, O 
my God ! I will love Thee, I will love Thee, 
and in order to love Thee I offer myself to 
undergo every fatigue and to suffer every 
pain. O my Lord ! increase in me always 
this desire, and give me the grace to exe- 
cute it. Of myself I can do nothing, but 
assisted by Thee I can do all. Eternal 
Father, for the love of Jesus Christ, gra- 
ciously hear me. My Jesus, through the 
merits of Thy Passion, come to my succor. 
O Mary, my hope, for the love of Jesus 
Christ, protect me. 



g6 Considerations on the Religious State, 



Consideration X. 

The Love We Owe to Jesus Christ in Considera- 
tion of the Love that He has Shown to us. 

JJT N order to understand the love that the 
5jT Son of God has borne to us, it is 
^ enough to consider what St. Paul says 
of Jesus Christ : " He emptied himself, tak- 
ing the form of a servant. . . . He humbled 
himself, becoming obedient even to the 
death of the cross" {Phil. ii. 7, 8). " He 
emptied himself." O God, what admiration 
has it caused, and will it cause throughout 
eternity, to the angels, to see a God who 
became man for the love of man, and sub- 
mitted himself to all the weaknesses and 
sufferings of man ! " And the Word was 
made flesh" {John i. 14). What a cause of 
astonishment would it not be to see a king 
become a worm for the sake of worms ! But 
an infinitely greater wonder it is, to see a 
God made man, and after this to see him 
humbled unto the painful and infamous 
death of the cross on which he finished his 
most holy life. Moses and Elias, on Mount 
Thabor, speaking of his death, as it is 
related in the Gospel, called it an excess : 
" They spoke of his decease [the Latin word 



The Love We Owe to Jesus Christ, 97 

is excessus, which also means excess], that he 
should accomplish in Jerusalem" {Luke ix. 
31). Yea, says St. Bonaventure, it is with 
reason the death of Jesus Christ was called 
an excess, for it was an excess of suffering 
and of love, such that it would be impossi- 
ble to believe it if it had not already hap- 
pened. An excess of love, adds St. Augus- 
tine ; for to this end the Son of God would 
come on earth, to live a life so laborious 
and to die a death so bitter, namely, that he 
might make known to man how much he 
loved him. " Therefore Christ came, that 
man should know how much God loved 
him" {De cateck. rud. c. 4). 

The Lord revealed to his servant Armella 
Nicolas that the love that he bore to man 
was the cause of all his sufferings and his 
death. If Jesus Christ had not been God, 
but only a man, and our friend, what greater 
love could he have shown us, than to die for 
us ? " Greater love than this no man hath, 
that a man lay down his life for his friends" 
{John xv. 13). Ah, how at the thought of 
the love shown us by Jesus Christ the 
saints esteemed it little to give their life 
and their all for so loving a God ! How 
many youths, how many noblemen, are there 
not, who have left their house, their coun- 



98 Considerations on the Religious State. 

try, their riches, their parents and all, to re- 
tire into cloisters, to live only for the love 
of Jesus Christ ! How many young virgins, 
renouncing their nuptials with princes, and 
the great ones of the world, have gone with 
joyfulness to death, to render thus some 
compensation for the love of a God who 
had been executed on an infamous gibbet, 
and died for their sake ! 

This appeared to St. Mary Magdalene of 
Pazzi to be foolishness : hence she called 
her Jesus a fool of love. In exactly the 
same manner the Gentiles, as St. Paul at- 
tests, hearing the death of Jesus Christ 
preached to them, thought it foolishness 
not possible to be believed. "We preach 
Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a 
stumbling-block, and unto the Gentiles fool- 
ishness" (1 Cor. i. 23). How is it possible, 
they said, that a God most happy in him- 
self, who is in want of nothing, should 
die for the sake of man, his servant ? This 
would be as much as to believe that God 
became a fool for the love of men. Never- 
theless it is of faith, that Jesus Christ, the 
true Son of God, did, for love of us, deliver 
himself up to death. " He hath loved us, 
and hath delivered himself for us" (Eph. v. 
2). The same Mary Magdalene had reason 



The Love We Owe to Jesus Christ. 99 

then to exclaim, lamenting the ingratitude 
of men towards so loving a God : " O love 
not known ! O love not loved !" Indeed, 
Jesus Christ is not loved by men, because 
they live in forgetfulness of his love. 

And, in fact, a soul that considers a God, 
who died for its sake, cannot live without 
loving him. " The charity of Christ press- 
eth us" (2 Cor. v. 14). The soul will feel it- 
self inflamed, and as if constrained to love a 
God who has loved it so much. Jesus 
Christ could have saved us, says Father 
Nieremberg, with only one drop of his 
blood ; but it was his will to shed all his 
blood, and to give his divine life, that at 
the sight of so many sufferings and of his 
death we might not content ourselves with 
an ordinary love, but be sweetly constrained 
to love with all our strength a God so full 
of love towards us. " That they also who 
live may not now live to themselves, but 
unto him who died for them" {lb. v. 15.) 

Prayer. 
Indeed, O my Jesus, my Lord, and my 
Redeemer! only too much hast Thou 
obliged me to love Thee, too much my love 
has cost Thee. I should be too ungrateful 
if I should content myself to love with re- 



ioo Considerations on the Religious State. 

serve a God who has given me his blood, 
his life, and his entire self. Oh, Thou 
hast died for me, Thy poor servant : it is but 
just that I should die for Thee, my God and 
my all. Yes, O my Jesus ! I detach myself 
from all, to give myself to Thee. I put 
away from me the love of all creatures, in 
order to consecrate myself entirely to Thy 
love. " My beloved is chosen from among 
thousands " (Cant. v. 10). I choose Thee 
alone out of all things for my good, my 
treasure, and my only love. I love Thee 
O my love ! I love Thee. Thou art not 
satisfied that I should love Thee a little 
only. Thou art not willing to have me 
love anything besides Thee. Thee I will 
please in all things, Thee will I love much, 
and Thou shalt be my only love. My God, 
my God, help me, that I may fully please 
Thee. 

Mary, my queen, do thou also help me to 
love my God much. Amen. So I hope ; 
so may it be. 



With Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. 101 



Consideration XI. 

The great Happi7iess which Religious enjoy 
in dwelling in the same House with Jesus 
Christ in the Blessed Sacrame?it. 

*HE Venerable Mother Mary of Jesus, 
foundress of a convent in Toulouse, 
said that she esteemed very much 
her lot as a religious, for two principal 
reasons. The first was, that religious, 
through the vow of obedience, belong en- 
tirely to God ; and the second, that they 
have the privilege of dwelling always with 
Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. 
And in truth, if people of the world deem 
it so great a favor to be invited by kings 
to dwell in their palaces, how much more 
favored should we esteem ourselves, who 
are admitted to dwell continually with the 
King of heaven in his own house? 

In houses of religious Jesus Christ dwells 
for their sake in the church, so that they 
can find him at all hours. Persons of the 
world can scarcely go to visit him during 
the day, and in many places only in the 
morning. But the religious find him in 
the tabernacle as often as they wish* — in the 
morning, in the afternoon, and during the 



102 Considerations on the Religious State. 

night. There they may continually converse 
with their Lord, and there Jesus Christ 
rejoices to converse familiarly with his be- 
loved servants, whom, for this end, he 
has called out of Egypt, that he may be 
their companion during this life, hidden 
under the veil of the Most Holy Sacra- 
ment, and in the next unveiled in paradise. 
" O solitude !" it may be said of every re- 
ligious house, " in which God familiarly 
speaks and converses with his friends." 
The souls that love Jesus Christ much, do 
not know how to wish for any other para- 
dise on this earth than to be in the pres- 
ence of their Lord, who dwells in this sac- 
rament for the love of those that seek and 
visit him. 

" His conversation hath no bitterness, 
nor his company any tediousness" ( Wisd. 
viii. 16). He finds tediousness in the com- 
pany of Jesus Christ, who does not love 
him. But those who on this earth have 
given all their love to Jesus Christ, find in 
the sacrament all their pleasure, their rest, 
their paradise; and therefore they keep 
their hearts always mindful to visit, as 
often as they can, their God in the sacra- 
ment, to pay their court to him, giving 
vent to their affections at the foot of the 



With Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. 103 

altar, offering him their afflictions, their 
desires of loving him,. of seeing him face 
to face, and in the mean time of pleasing 
him in all things. 

Prayer. 

Behold me in Thy presence, O my Jesus, 
hidden in the sacrament ! Thou art the 
self-same Jesus who for me didst sacrifice 
Thyself on the cross. Thou art he who 
lovest me so much, and who hast therefore 
confined Thyself in this prison of love. 
Amongst so many, who have offended 
Thee less than I, and who have loved Thee 
better than I, Thou hast chosen me in Thy 
goodness to keep Thee company in this 
house, where, having drawn me from the 
midst of the world, Thou hast destined me 
always to live united with Thee, and after- 
wards to have me nigh Thee to praise and 
to love Thee in Thy eternal kingdom. O 
Lord! I thank Thee. How have I de- 
served this happy lot ? " I have chosen to 
be an abject in the house of my God, rather 
than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners" 
(Ps. lxxxiii. 11). Happy indeed am I, O 
my Jesus ! to have left the world ; and it is 
my great desire to perform the vilest office 
in Thy house, rather than dwell in the 



104 Considerations on the Religious State. 

proudest royal palaces of men. Receive 
me then, Lord, to stay with Thee all my 
life long ; do not chase me away, as I de- 
serve. Be pleased to allow, that among 
the many good brothers who serve Thee in 
this house, I, though I am a miserable sin- 
ner, may serve Thee also. Many years al- 
ready have I lived far from Thee. But 
now that Thou hast enlightened me to 
know the vanity of the world, and my own 
foolishness, I will not depart any more 
from Thy feet, O my Jesus ! Thy presence 
shall animate me to fight when I am 
tempted. The nearness of Thy abode shall 
remind me of the obligation I am under to 
love Thee, and always to have recourse to 
Thee in my combats against hell. I will 
always keep near to Thee, that I may unite 
myself to Thee, and attach myself closer to 
Thee. I love Thee, O my God ! hidden, in 
this sacrament. Thou for the love of me 
remainest always on this altar. I, for the 
love of Thee, will always remain in Thy 
presence as much as I shall be able. There 
enclosed Thou always lovest me, and here 
enclosed I will always love Thee. Always 
then, O my Jesus, my love, my all ! shall we 
remain together, in time in this house and 



Life of Religious Resembles Chris fs. 105 

during eternity in paradise. This is my 
hope ; so may it be. 

Most holy Mary, obtain for me a greater 
love for the Most Holy Sacrament. 

Consideration XII. 

Phe Life of Religious resembles the Life of 
Jes:ts Christ, 

J HE Apostle says that the eternal Fa- 
ther predestinates to the kingdom 
of heaven those only who live con- 
formably to the life of the incarnate Word : 
" Whom he foreknew, he also predesti- 
nated to be made conformable to the image 
of his Son" (Rom. viii. 29). How happy, 
then, and secure of paradise should not re- 
ligious be, seeing that God has called them 
to a state of life which of all states is the 
most conformed to the life of Jesus Christ. 
Jesus on this earth wished to live poor as 
the son and helpmate of a mechanic, in a 
poor dwelling, with poor clothing and poor 
food : " Being rich, he became poor for your 
sake, that through his poverty you might 
be rich" (2 Cor. viii. 9). Moreover, he chose 
a life the most entirely mortified, far from 
the delights of the world, and always full 
of pain and sorrow, from 'his birth to his 



106 Considerations on the Religious State. 

death : hence by the prophet he was called 
"The Man of sorrows" (Tsa. liii. 3). By this 
he wished to give his servants to under- 
stand what should be the life of those who 
wished to follow him : " If any man will 
come after me, let him deny himself, and 
take up his cross, and follow me" (Matt. xvi. 
24). According to this example, and to 
this invitation of Jesus Christ, the saints 
have endeavored to dispossess themselves 
of all earthly goods, and to load themselves 
with pains and crosses, in order thus to fol- 
low Christ, their beloved Lord. Thus acted 
St. Benedict, who, being the son of the lord 
of Noricia, and a relative of the Emperor 
Justinian, and born amidst the riches and 
the pleasures of the world, while yet a 
youth of only fourteen years went to live in 
a cavern on Mount Subiaco, where he re- 
ceived no other sustenance but a piece of 
bread brought him every day as an alms by 
the hermit Romanus. 

So acted St. Francis of Assisi, who re- 
nounced in favor of his father the whole 
lawful portion of his inheritance, even to 
the shirt he had on his back, and thus, poor 
and mortified, consecrated himself to Jesus 
Christ. Thus St. Francis Borgia, St. Aloy- 
sius Gonzaga, the one being duke of Candia, 



Life of Religious Resembles Chrisfs. 107 

the other of Castiglione, left all their riches, 
their estates, their vassals, their country, 
their house, their parents, and went to live 
a poor life in religion. 

So have acted many other noblemen 
and princes, even of royal blood. Blessed 
Zedmerra, daughter of the king of Ethiopia, 
renounced the kingdom to become a Do- 
minican nun. Blessed Johanna of Portu- 
gal renounced the kingdom of France and 
England to become a nun. In the Bene- 
dictine Order alone there are found twenty- 
five emperors, and seventy-five kings and 
queens, who left the world to live poor, 
mortified, and forgotten by the world in a 
poor cloister. Ah ! indeed, these and not 
the grandees of the world are the truly 
fortunate ones. 

At present, worldlings think these to be 
fools, but in the valley of Josaphat they 
shall know that they themselves have been 
the fools ; and when they see the saints on 
their thrones crowned by God, they shall 
say, lamenting and in despair : " These are 
they whom we had sometime in derision. 
. . . We fools esteemed their life madness. 
. . . Behold how they are numbered among 
the children of God, and their lot is among 
the saints" (Wisd. v. 3, and seq.). 



io8 Considerations on the Religious State, 



<b * 



Prayer. 
Ah ! my Master and my Redeemer, Jesus, 
I am then of the number of those fortunate 
ones whom Thou hast called to follow 
Thee. O my Lord ! I thank Thee for this. 
I leave all ; I would I had more to leave, 
that I might draw near to Thee, my King 
and my God, who for the love of me, and 
to give me courage by Thy example, hast 
chosen for Thyself a life so poor and so 
painful. Walk on, O Lord ! I will follow 
Thee. Choose Thou for me what cross 
Thou wilt, and help me. I will always 
carry it with constancy and love. I regret 
that for the past I have abandoned Thee, to 
follow my lusts and the vanities of the 
world, but now I will leave Thee no more. 
Bind me to Thy cross, and if through weak- 
ness I sometimes resist, draw me by the 
sweet bonds of Thy love. Suffer it not that 
I should ever leave Thee again. Yes, my 
Jesus, I renounce all the satisfactions of the 
world : my only satisfaction shall be to con- 
tinue to love Thee, and to suffer all that 
pleases Thee. I hope thus to come myself 
one day in Thy kingdom, to be united to 
Thee by that bond of eternal love, where, 
loving Thee in Thy revealed glory, I need 
no more fear to be loosed and separated 



Zeal for the Salvation of Souls. 109 

from Thee. I love Thee, O my God, my 
all ! and will always love Thee. 

Behold my hope, O most holy Mary, thou 
who, because the most conformed to Jesus, 
art now the most powerful to obtain this 
grace. Be thou my protectress ! 

Consideration XIII. 

The Zeal which Religious ought to have for 
the Salvation of Souls. 1 

^fj E who is called to the Congregation 

SFjL of the Most Holy Redeemer wil1 

{-**-> never be a true follower of Jesus 
Christ, and will never become a saint, if he 
fulfils not the end of his vocation, and has 
not the spirit of the Institute, which is the 

1 Although in this consideration, and in some other 
passages, St. Alphonsus may have had specially in 
view the Congregation of Missionaries which he 
founded, yet the subject refers to all religious of both 
sexes, and to all persons who serve God. All are 
called to exercise directly or indirectly this charitable 
apostolate — every one, according to his talent or his 
means, whether by a generous co-operation in the 
works which have for their object the defence of faith 
or the conversion of sinners, or by prayer and the 
other practices of piety. All can share in the mag- 
nificent reward that the Lord reserves for his evangeli- 
cal laborers {Matt. x. 40 et seq.; James v. 20). — Ed. 



no Considerations on the Religious State. 

salvation of souls, and of those souls who 
are the most destitute of spiritual succor, 
such as the poor people in the country. 

This was truly the end for which our Re- 
deemer came down from heaven, who pro- 
tests "The Spirit of the Lord . . . hath 
anointed me to preach the Gospel to the 
poor" {Luke iv. 18). He sought no other 
proof of Peter's love for him but this, that 
he should procure the salvation of souls : 
" Simon, son of John, lovest thou me ? . . . 
feed my lambs" {John xxi. 17). He did not 
impose upon him, says St. John Chrysostom, 
penance, prayers, or other things, but only 
that he should endeavor to save his lambs : 
"Christ said not to him, Throw your money 
away, practise fasting, fatigue your body 
with hard work ; but he said : Feed my 
lambs." And he declares that he would 
look upon every benefit conferred on the 
least of our neighbors as conferred on 
himself: "Amen, I say to you, as long as 
you did it to one of these my least brethren, 
you did it to me" {Matt. xxv. 40). 

Every religious should, therefore, with 
the utmost care entertain within himself 
this zeal, and this spirit of helping souls. 
To this end every one should direct his 
studies, and when he shall afterwards have 



Zeal for the Salvation of Souls. 1 1 1 

been assigned to his work by his Superiors, 
he should give to it all his thoughts, and his 
whole attention. He could not call himself 
a true member of this Congregation who, 
through the desire of attending only to 
himself and of leading a retired and solitary 
life, would not accept with all affection such 
an employment when imposed on him by 
obedience. 

What greater glory can a man have, than 
to be, as St. Paul says, a co-operator with 
God in this great work of the salvation of 
souls ? He who loves the Lord ardently, is 
not content to be alone in loving him : he 
would draw all to his love, saying with 
David : " O magnify the Lord with me, and 
let us extol his name together" (Ps. xxxiii. 
4). Hence St. Augustine exhorts all those 
who love God, " If you love God, draw all 
men to his love" (In Ps. xxxiii. en. 2). 

A good ground to hope for his own salva- 
tion has he who with true zeal labors for 
the salvation of souls. " Have you saved a 
soul," says St. Augustine : " then you have 
predestinated your own." 

The Holy Ghost promises us : " When 
thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry :" 
When thou shalt have labored for the wel- 
fare of a poor man ; " and shalt satisfy the 



ii2 Considerations on the Religious State \ 



<b * 



afflicted soul :" And by thy labor shalt have 
filled him (with divine grace) ; " the Lord 
will give thee rest continually, and will fill 
thy soul with brightness:" The Lord will fill 
thee with light and peace {Isa. lviii. 10, u). 
In this, namely, in procuring the salvation 
of others, St. Paul placed his hope of eter- 
nal salvation, when he said to his disciples 
of Thessalonica : " For what is our hope, or 
joy, or crown of glory ? Are not you, in the 
presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ at his 
coming?" (i Tkess. ii. 19.) 

Prayer. 

O my Lord Jesus Christ ! how can I 
thank Thee enough, since Thou hast called 
me to the same work that Thou didst Thy- 
self on earth, namely, to go with my poor 
exertions and help souls to their salvation. 
How have I deserved this honor and this 
reward, after having offended Thee so griev- 
ously, and been the cause to others also of 
offending Thee ? Yes, O my Lord ! Thou 
callest me to help Thee in this great under- 
taking. I will serve Thee with all my 
strength. Behold, I offer Thee all my labor, 
and even my blood, in order to obey Thee. 
Nor do I by this aspire to satisfy my own 
inclination, or to gain applause and esteem 



Necessity of Meekness and Humility, 113 

from men : I desire nothing but to see Thee 
loved by all, as Thou deservest. I prize my 
happy lot, and call myself fortunate, that 
Thou hast chosen me for this great work, 
in which I protest that I will renounce all 
praises of men, and all self-satisfaction, and 
will only seek Thy glory. To Thee be all 
the honor and satisfaction, and to me only 
the discomforts, the blame, and the re- 
proaches. Accept, O Lord ! this offering, 
which I, a miserable sinner, who wishes to 
love Thee and to see Thee loved by others, 
make of myself to Thee, and give me 
strength to execute it. 

Most holy Mary, my advocate, who lovest 
souls so much, help me. 

Consideration XIV. 

How Necessary to Religious are the Virtues 
of Meekness and Humility. 

UR most lovely Redeemer Jesus 
willed to be called a lamb for this 
very reason that he might show us 
how meek and humble he was himself. 
These were the virtues which he princi- 
pally wished his followers should learn 
from him : " Learn from me, because I am 
meek and humble of heart " {Matt. xi. 29)0 




ii4 Considerations on the Religious State. 



And these virtues he principally requires 
from religious, who profess to imitate his 
most holy life. 

He who lives as a solitary in a desert has 
not so much need of these virtues ; but for 
him who lives in a Community, it is im- 
possible not to meet now and then with a 
reprimand from his Superiors, or something 
disagreeable from his companions. In such 
cases a religious who toves not meekness 
will commit a thousand faults every day, 
and live an unquiet life. He must be all 
sweetness with everybody, with strangers, 
with companions, and also with inferiors, if 
he should ever become Superior ; and if he 
is an inferior, he must consider that one act 
of meekness in bearing contempt and re- 
proach is of greater value to him than a 
thousand fasts and a thousand disciplines. 

St. Francis said that many make their 
perfection consist in exterior mortifications, 
and after all are not able to bear one injuri- 
ous word. " Not understanding," he added. 
" how much greater gain is made by pa- 
tiently bearing injuries/' How many per- 
sons, as St. Bernard remarks, are all sweet- 
ness when nothing is said or done contrary 
to their inclination, but show their want of 
meekness, when anything crosses them ! 



Necessity of Meekness and Humility. 115 

And if one should ever be Superior, let him 
believe that one reprimand made with 
meekness will profit his subjects more than 
a thousand made with severity. " The 
meek are useful to themselves and to 
others" {In Act. horn. 6), as St. John 
Chrysostom teaches. In a word, as the 
same saint said, the greatest sign of a vir- 
tuous soul is, to see it meek on occasions of 
contradiction. A meek heart is the pleas- 
ure of the heart of God. " That which is 
agreeable to him is faith and meekness" 
{Ecclus. i. 34). It would be well for a re- 
ligious to represent to himself in his medi- 
tations all the contrarieties that may hap- 
pen to him, and thus arm himself against 
them ; and then when the occasion happens, 
he should do violence to himself, that he 
may not be excited, and break out in impa- 
tience. Therefore he should refrain from 
speaking, when his mind is disturbed, till 
he is certain that he has become calm again. 
But to bear injuries quietly, it is above 
all necessary to have a great fund of hu- 
mility. He who is truly humble is not 
only unmoved when he sees himself de- 
spised, but is even pleased and rejoices at 
it in spirit, however the flesh may resent it ; 
for he sees himself treated as he deserves, 



1 1 6 Considerations on the Religious State, 



e> ' 



and made conformable to Jesus Christ, 
who, worthy as he was of every honor, 
chose for the love of us to be satiated with 
contempt and injuries. Brother Juniper, a 
disciple of St. Francis, when an injury was 
done to him, held up his cowl, as if he 
expected to receive pearls falling from ■ 
heaven. The saints have been more desir- 
ous of injuries than worldlings are covet- 
ous of applause and honor. And of what 
use is a religious who does not know how 
to bear contempt for God's sake ? He is 
always proud, and only humble in name 
and a hypocrite, whom divine grace will 
repulse, as the Holy Ghost says : " God re- 
sisteth the proud, but to the humble he 
giveth grace" (i Peter v. 5). 

Prayer. 
O my most humble Jesus, who for the 
love of me, didst humble Thyself, and be- 
come obedient unto the death of the cross) 
how have I the courage to appear before 
Thee, and call myself Thy follower? for I 
see myself to be such a sinner and so 
proud, that I cannot bear a single injury 
without resenting it. Whence can come 
such pride in me, who for my sins have so 
many times deserved to be cast forever 



Confidence in the Patronage of Mary, 117 

into hell with the devils ? Ah, my de- 
spised Jesus, help me and make me con- 
formable to Thee. I will change my life. 
Thou for love of me hast borne so much 
contempt ; I for love of Thee will bear 
every injury. Thou, O my Redeemer ! hast 
rendered contempt too honorable and de- 
sirable, since Thou hast embraced it with 
so much love during Thy own life. " God 
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ" {Gal. vi. 

O my most humble mistress Man', 
mother of God ! thou who wast in all. and 
especially in suffering, the most conformed 
to thy Son, obtain for me the grace to bear 
in peace all injuries which hencefonvard 
shall be offered to me. Amen. 

Consideration XV. 

How much Religious should confide in the 
Patronage of Mary. 

tF it is true — and most true it is — that, 
according to the saying of St. Peter 
Damian, the divine mother, the most 
holy Man-, loves all men with such an af- 
fection, that after God there is not, nor can 
there be, any one who surpasses or equals 
her in her love : " She loves us with an in- 



1 1 8 Considerations on the Religious State. 

vincible love" {In Nat. B. V. s. i), how 
much must we think this great queen loves 
religious who have consecrated their lib- 
erty, their life, and their all to the love of 
Jesus Christ. She sees well enough that 
the life of such as these is more conforma- 
ble to her own life, and to that of her di- 
vine Son ; she sees them often occupied in 
praising her, and continually attentive to 
honor her by their novenas, visits, rosaries, 
fasts, etc. She beholds them often at her 
feet, intent on invoking her aid, asking 
graces of her, and graces all conformed to 
her holy desires, i.e., the grace of persever- 
ance in the divine service, of strength in 
their temptations, of detachment from this 
world, and of love towards God. Ah, how 
can we doubt that she employs all her 
power and her mercy for the benefit of re- 
ligious, and especially of those who belong 
to this holy Congregation of the Most Holy 
Redeemer, in which, as it is well known, 
we make special profession of honoring the 
Virgin Mother by visits, by fasting on Sat- 
urdays, by special mortifications during her 
novenas, etc., and by everywhere promot- 
ing devotion to her by sermons and nove- 
nas in her honor. 

She, the great mistress, is grateful. " I 



Confidence i?i the Patronage of Mary. 1 1 9 

love those who love me" {Prov. viii. 17). 
Yes, she is so grateful, that, as St. Andrew 
of Crete says: "To him who does her the 
least service she is accustomed to return 
great favors" {In Dorm. B. V. s. 3). She 
promises liberally those who love her and 
who promote her honor among others, to 
deliver them from sin. "Those that work 
by me shall not sin" {Off. of the Blessed 
Virgin). She also promises to them para- 
dise. " Those that explain me, shall have 
life everlasting" {Ibid.). For which reason 
we especially should thank God for having 
called us to this Congregation, in which by 
the usages of the Community and the ex- 
ample of our companions we are often re- 
minded, and in some way constrained, to 
have recourse to Mary, and continually to 
honor this our most loving mother, who is 
called, and is, the joy, the hope, the life, 
and the salvation of those who invoke and 
honor her. 

Prayer. 

My most beloved, most lovely, and most 
loving Queen, I always thank my Lord and 
thee, who hast not only drawn me out of 
the world, but also called me to live in this 
Congregation, where a special devotion to 
thee is practised. Accept of me, then, my 



120 Considerations on the Religious State. 

mother, to serve thee. Among so many of 
thy beloved sons do not scorn to let me 
serve thee also, miserable though I am. 
Thou after God shalt be always my hope 
and my love. In all my wants, in all my 
tribulations and temptations, I will always 
have recourse to thee ; thou shalt be my 
refuge, my consolation. I am unwilling 
that any but God and thou shouldst comfort 
me in my combats, in the sadness and the 
tediousness of this life. For thy service I 
renounce all the kingdoms of the whole 
world. My kingdom on this earth shall be 
to serve, bless, and love thee, O my most 
lovely mistress, "whom to serve is to 
reign." Thou art the mother of persever- 
ance ; obtain for me to be faithful to thee 
until death. By so doing I hope, and 
firmly hope, one day to come where thou 
reignest, to praise and bless thee forever, to 
depart no more from thy holy feet. Jesus 
and Mary, I protest with your loving ser- 
vant Alphonsus Rodriguez, " my most 
sweet loves, let me suffer for you, let me 
die for you, let me be all yours, and not at 
all my own." 




deportation to fUHgtous to ^btmnce 
in tlje |terfection of tl)dr State. 

OD has especially chosen religious 
from among the men of the world, 
that they may spread his glory 
and love him with a love more particular 
and pure than that which they bear to 
him, who live in the world, occupied in its 
affairs. To this end has the Lord, by a 
special vocation, drawn them out of the 
darkness of Egypt, and freed them from 
the love of the world ; and so moved by 
divine grace, they have consecrated them- 
selves to God by their holy vows, renounc- 
ing all the goods that this world promises 
and gives to its followers. And therefore 
it is, that each monastery of religious, 
which is found on earth, should be consid- 
ered as a company of men, who, detached 
from every earthly thought, are mindful of 
nothing but to live only for God, so that 
God may glory in them and say : These are 
all mine, they are my delight. 

But, I ask, can the Lord nowadays say 
of all the religious now living, they are my 



122 Exhortation to Religious to Advance 

delight ? Alas ! the Church laments, be- 
cause she sees in her religious a general re- 
laxation of spirit, united with a great cold- 
ness' in the service of God. It cannot be 
denied, that, amongst so many, there are 
some who live as good religious, free from 
worldly attachments, intent on becoming 
saints and bringing souls to God. There 
are such, whom I call judges, who shall, 
one day, in the Valley of Josaphat, judge 
their brethren ; but these good religious, 
these judges, how many are they ? O God ! 
they are too few, it is evident enough, and 
therefore the Church laments with all 
those that love the glory of God. 

It is not becoming to my littleness to 
talk here as a censor, and to note down the 
defects into which nowadays religious com- 
monly fall, whereby, instead of giving edi- 
fication by their example, they are the ob- 
jects of talk, and give scandal to others. 
But some one will say : You, who set up 
for a reformer, tell us what those common 
defects are. Tell us what we have to do 
to be good religious. I answer, I pretend 
not to reform the world, and therefore will 
not undertake to declare in particular the 
faults that have nowadays become com- 
mon. To you who ask me thus, I say only 



in the Perfection of their State. 123 

that you know full well what you have to 
do in order to be a good religious ; in your 
novitiate you were fully instructed by good 
masters in the practice of the virtues which 
you had afterwards to practise in religion, 
that is, obedience, detachment from earthly 
affections, the love of poverty the abnega- 
tion of yourself, the desire of being hum- 
bled, and those other virtues that are 
necessary to live as a good religious. But 
since in these times lukewarmness and re- 
laxation have become general, and since 
religious pay little attention to the obliga- 
tions of their state, as a consequence they 
care little about mending these defects. 

Oh, would to God that all religious 
might preserve at least the half of that good 
life they began to lead in their novitiate ! 
For the most part, the novices who perse- 
vere to make their profession, live in fervor 
of spirit and give edification ; but the evil 
is, that, after having made the vows, and 
applied themselves to their studies, they at 
once begin to grow lukewarm, and neglect 
to preserve the spirit they acquired and to 
put in execution the good resolutions 
which they made in the novitiate, so that, 
as time goes on, they fall more and more 
from it every day, and multiply their faults. 



124 Exhortation to Religious to Advance 

When afterwards they are appointed to 
teach others, this relaxation increases ; 
thenceforward they are little solicitous to 
do anything for the glory of God, but think 
only of advancing their own interest by 
i pressing on to higher stations, so as then 
. to be able to live a life of less subjection, 
and greater comfort. 

It was with the best intention that relig- 
ious Orders have established these degrees, 
through which the religious must advance, 
in order by instructing the ignorant and 
arousing the lukewarm to fervor, to pro- 
mote the good of souls. But the misfor- 
tune is, that with many religious the means 
have become the end, for by the lapse of 
time they think less of the good of religion 
and of souls than of their own temporal 
advantage. I protest again that I do not 
pretend to play the reformer, but I see that 
from this spring up in the religious Orders 
all kinds of ambition, and in consequence 
every species of spiritual decay. Hence 
I conclude, that it would be much better 
were the masters, after having finished 
their course, to remain in the same humble 
degree in which they were when they came 
out of the novitiate. For then each one 
would think of fulfilling the duties of his 



in the Perfection of their State, 125 

office, not for private ends, but only to ac- 
complish the will of God, and to obey his 
Superiors. But on becoming teachers they 
get a better room, other comforts and pre- 
eminences, and this is the reason why so 
few religious make progress in spirit, and 
give to others the edification that they 
should ; and thence it comes that all good 
persons lament, when they see that general 
relaxation in the Orders, which is now but 
too evident to all. Where shall we, gener- 
ally speaking, nowadays find in religious 
the spirit of obedience, of poverty, of mor- 
tification, of interior abnegation? where 
the love for solitude, for a hidden life, the 
desire of being despised, which we find in 
the saints ? These kinds of virtue have be- 
come strange things, and even the name of 
them seems to be lost ! 

But what would be the remedy for so 
great and universal an evil ? What shall I 
say? The remedy has to come from 
heaven, and therefore we should pray to 
the Lord that he may in his mercy rem- 
edy it by his own power; because, as the 
good spirit of religious communicates itself 
to seculars, so do they also participate in 
their relaxation. I, for my part, believe 
that this decay in the religious Orders 



126 Exhortation to Religious to Advance 

comes for the most part from the want and 
neglect of mental prayer, and this comes 
from the want of retirement and recollec- 
tion. Experience shows too well that the 
more certain persons treat with men, the 
less they desire to treat with God ; and the 
more they become familiar with the world, 
the more God retires from them. " Will- 
ingly would I," said our Lord one day to 
St. Teresa, " speak to many souls, but the 
world makes so much noise in their hearts, 
that my voice cannot be heard." Im- 
mersed, as many religious are, in the affairs 
of the world, they think little of uniting 
themselves more closely to God. They 
would like to get out of the mire of their 
tepidity, and free themselves from the 
earthly attachments, in which they find 
themselves entangled ; but their passions, 
which they make no effort to overcome, al- 
ways draw them downwards, and thus they 
lose the love of mental prayer. 

The old monks gave much time to men- 
tal prayer, and in this way they became 
saints ; and, by the edification that they 
gave, they also sanctified others. But 
nowadays all fails, because the spirit of 
prayer is wanting, and therefore religious 
are without humility, without detachment 



in the Perfection of their State, 127 

from the world, and without love of God ; 
and the love of God being wanting, as a 
consequence other virtues are wanting too. 
Let us, then, beseech Jesus Christ, who 
alone is able to remedy so great an evil ; let 
us beseech him to infuse into religious 
his holy love, and the desire of becoming 
saints. For it seems that religious at pres- 
ent have even lost the desire of becoming 
saints. Every one sees the need there is 
of a general reform in the religious Orders, 
in the priests, and in the seculars. As the 
corruption of manners has everywhere be- 
come so general, we should repeat every 
day the prayer of David, which in these 
times is much to the purpose : " O Lord, 
the vineyard, Thy Church, planted by Thy 
Son, at the cost of his Blood, is in ruin on 
all sides : visit and restore it ; Thou, who 
alone canst restore it" {Ps. lxxix. 15). 



&nsroer to a Uomtg Man tnfyo aeks 
QLounzd on tlje Choice of a State of 
Mt. 

&± 

tREAD in your letter that some time 
ago you felt inspired by God to be- 
come a religious, and that afterwards 
many doubts arose in your mind, and especi- 
ally this one, that, without becoming a re- 
ligious, you might sanctify yourself also in 
the world. 

I will answer your letter briefly, for, 
should you wish to read something more 
complete, you can read a little work of mine, 
which has already been printed, under the 
title " Counsels concerning Religious Voca- 
tion," in which I have treated this matter 
more fully. Here I will only say, briefly, 
that this point of the choice of a state of 
life is of the greatest importance, as upon 
it depends our eternal salvation. He who 
chooses the state to which God calls him 
will save himself with facility ; and for him 
who does not obey the divine call it will be 
difficult — yes, morally impossible — to save 
himself. The greatest number of those who 
128 



Choice of a State of Life, 129 

are damned, are damned for not having 
corresponded to the call of God. 

In order, therefore, that you may be able 
to choose that state which will be the surest 
for attaining eternal salvation, consider that 
.your soul is immortal, and that the only end 
for which God has placed you in this world 
was, not certainly that you may acquire 
money and honors on this earth, and thus 
live a comfortable and delightful life, but 
that by holy virtues you may merit eternal 
life, ''and the end life everlasting" {Rom. v. 
22). In the day of judgment it will avail 
you nothing to have advanced your family, 
and to have made a figure in the world ; it 
will only avail you to have served and loved 
Jesus Christ, who is to be your judge. 

You have a thought which tells you that 
you will also be able to sanctify yourself by 
remaining in the world. Yes, my dear sir, 
you will be able ; but it is difficult, and if 
you are truly called by God to the religious 
state, and yet remain in the world, it is, as 
I have said above, morally impossible, be- 
cause those helps will be denied you which 
God has prepared for you in religion, and 
without them you will not save yourself. 
To sanctify yourself -it is necessary for you 
to employ the means, — such as, to avoid 



130 Choice of a State of Life, 

evil occasions, to remain detached from 
earthly goods, to live a life recollected in 
God ; and to maintain this, it is necessary 
to receive the sacraments frequently, to 
make your meditation, your spiritual read- 
ing, and to perform other devout exercises, 
every day, otherwise it is impossible to pre- 
serve the spirit of fervor. Now, it is diffi- 
cult, not to say impossible, to practise all 
this in the midst of the noise and the dis- 
turbances of the world ; for family affairs, 
the necessities of the house, the complaints 
of parents, the quarrels and persecutions 
with which the world is so full, will keep 
your mind so occupied by cares and fears 
that you will barely be able in the evening 
to recommend yourself to God, and even 
this will be done with many distractions. 
You would wish to make your meditation, 
to read spiritual books, to receive Holy 
Communion often, to visit every day the 
Sacrament of the altar ; but from all this 
you will be prevented by the affairs of the 
world, and the little you do will be imper- 
fect, because it is done in the midst of a 
thousand distractions, and with coldness of 
heart. Your life -will thus be always un- 
quiet, and your death more unquiet still. 
On one side, worldly friends will not fail 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 131 

to inspire you with a fear of embracing the 
religious life, as being a hard life and full 
of troubles. On the other, the world offers 
you amusements, money, and a contented 
life. Reflect well, and do not allow your- 
self to be led into error. Be persuaded that 
the world is a traitor that makes promises 
and does not care about the fulfilment of 
them. It offers you indeed all these earthly 
things, but suppose it should give them 
to you, could it also give you peace of 
soul ? No, God only can give true peace. 
The soul is created only for God, to love 
him in this life and to enjoy him in the 
next, and therefore God only can content it. 
All the pleasures and riches of the earth 
cannot give true peace ; nay, those who in 
this life abound the most with such goods 
are the most troubled and afflicted, as Solo- 
mon confesses, who had them in abundance. 
" All," says he, " is vanity, and affliction of 
spirit " (Eccles. i. 14). If the world, with its 
goods, could make us happy, the rich, the 
great, the monarchs, who are in no want of. 
wealth, honors, and amusements, would be 
fully contented. But experience shows 
how it is with these mighty ones of the 
earth : the greater they are, the greater are 
the vexations, fears, and afflictions they 



132 Choice of a State of Life, 

have to suffer. A poor Capuchin lay- 
brother, who goes about girded with a cord 
over a sackcloth, who lives on beans, and 
sleeps in a small cell on a little straw, is 
more contented than a prince with all his 
gilded trappings and riches, who has every 
day a sumptuous table, and who goes half 
sick to bed under a rich canopy, unable to 
sleep on account of the anguish which 
drives sleep away. He is a fool who loves 
the world and not God, said St. Philip Neri ; 
and if these worldlings live such an unquiet 
life, much more unquiet still will be their 
death, when the priest, at their side, will 
intimate to them that they are about to be 
chased away from this world, saying: "De- 
part hence, Christian soul, from this world. 
Embrace the crucifix, for this world is at 
an end for you." The misery is, that in 
the world they think little of God, and just 
as little of the next life, where they must 
remain forever. All, or almost all, their 
thoughts are given to the things of this 
earth, and this is the cause that their life is 
so unhappy, and their death still more. 

Nevertheless, that you may ascertain what 
state you ought to embrace, imagine your- 
self at the point of death, and choose that 
one which you would then wish to have 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 133 

chosen. Should you have erred, by neg- 
lecting the divine call, in order to follow 
your own inclinations, and to live with 
more liberty, there will then be no longer 
time to remedy the error. Consider that 
everything here below will come to an end. 
" The fashion of this world passeth away" (1 
Cor. vii. 31). The scenes of this world must 
finish for each one of us. Everything passes, 
and death draws near ; and at every step we 
take, we approach nearer to it, and, through 
death, nearer to eternity. For this we are 
born. " Man shall go into the house of his 
eternity" (Eccles. xii. 5). Death will be upon 
us when we least think of it. Alas ! when 
death draws near, what will then appear all 
the goods of this world, but the unreal 
pageantry of a theatre, — vanities, lies, and 
foolishness ? And what profit will it then 
be, as Jesus Christ warns us, " if we should 
have gained the whole world and lost our 
souls"? {Matt. xvi. 26.) It will help us 
only to die an unhappy death. 

On the contrary, a young man who has 
left the world to give himself entirely to 
Jesus Christ, how contented will he feel, as 
he passes his days in the solitude of his cell 
far from the tumult of the world and the 
dangers of losing God, which are in the 



134 Choice of a State of Life, 

world ! In the monastery he will not have 
the entertainments of music, theatres, and 
balls, but he will have God to console him 
and to make him enjoy peace. I mean all 
that peace, which is possible in this valley 
of tears, into which every one is sent to 
suffer, and to merit by his patience that 
full peace which is prepared for him in 
heaven. But in this life even, far from the 
pastimes of the world, one loving look cast 
from time to time on the crucifix, one 
" Deus meus, et omnia," pronounced with 
affection, one "my God " said with a sigh of 
love, will console him more than all the 
pastimes and feasts of the world, which leave 
only bitterness behind them. 

And if he lives content in such a life, 
more content will he be still at his death at 
having chosen the religious state. How 
much will it then console him to have spent 
his life in prayer, in spiritual reading, in 
mortification, and in other exercises of de- 
votion, especially if he has been in an Order 
employed in saving souls by preaching and 
hearing confessions, — things which at fyis 
death will all increase his confidence in 
Jesus Christ, who is truly grateful and lib- 
eral in rewarding those who have labored 
for his glory ! 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 135 

But let us come to a conclusion with re- 
gard to your vocation. Since the Lord has 
called you to leave the world, and to be en- 
tirely his in religion, I tell you : Rejoice and 
tremble at the same time. Rejoice, on the 
one hand, and always thank the Lord, be- 
cause to be called by God to a perfect life 
is a grace which he does not give to all : 
" He hath not done in like manner to every 
nation" (Ps. cxlvii. 20). On the other hand, 
tremble, because if you do not follow the 
divine call, you will put your eternal salva- 
tion in great danger. It is not my intention 
here to relate to you the many examples of 
young men who, because they made no ac- 
count of their vocation, have lived a misera- 
ble life and died a horrible death. Hold for 
certain that, as God has called you, you will 
never have peace, if you remain in the 
world ; and at your death you will be very 
unquiet, on account of the remorse that then 
will torment you, for having neglected to 
obey God, who had called you to the re- 
ligious state. 

At the end of your letter you express a 
wish to learn from me whether, in case you 
should not have the courage to enter re- 
ligion, it would be better to marry, as your 
parents wish, or to become a secular priest. 



136 Choice of a State of Life, 

I answer : The married state I cannot rec- 
ommend to you, because St. Paul does not 
counsel it to any one, except there be a ne- 
cessity for it, arising out of habitual incon- 
tinence, which necessity, I hold for certain, 
does not exist in your case. 

With regard, then, to the state of a secu- 
lar priest, 1 take notice that a secular priest 
has on him all the obligations of a priest, 
and all the distractions and dangers of a 
layman ; for, living in the midst of the 
world, he cannot avoid the troubles which 
arise from his own household and from his 
parents, and cannot be free from the dan- 
gers to which his soul is exposed. He will 
have temptations in his own house, being 
unable to exclude women from it, whether 
relatives or servants, nor prevent other 
strangers from coming to see them. You 
should then stay there altogether retired in 
a separate room, and attend only to divine 
things. Now, this it is very difficult to prac- 
tise ; and therefore small, and very small, is 
the number of those priests who attend to 
their perfection in their own houses. 

On the contrary, entering a monastery of 
strict observance, you will be freed from the 

1 In Italy we often see priests who live with their 
parents or relatives. — Ed. 



And the Vocatio?i to the Religious State. 137 

disagreeable duty of thinking about your 
food and clothing, because there the Order 
provides you with all, there you will not 
have your parents to come and continually 
trouble you with all the disturbances that 
happen in their house ; there no women en- 
ter to disturb your mind ; and thus, far from 
the tumult of the world, you will have no 
one to hinder you in your prayers and your 
recollection. 

I have said a inonastery of strict observ- 
ance ; because if you want to enter another, 
where they live more freely, it is better for 
you to stay at home and attend there to the 
salvation of your soul as well as you can ; 
for entering an Order where the spirit is re- 
laxed, you expose yourself to the danger of 
being lost. Though you should enter with 
the resolution to attend to prayer and to the 
things of God only, yet, carried along by 
the bad example of your companions, and 
seeing yourself derided and even persecuted, 
if you do not live as they do, you will leave 
off all your devotions, and do as the others 
do, as experience shows it to be commonly 
the case. But should God give you the 
grace of vocation, be careful to preserve it, 
by recommending yourself often to Jesus 
and Mary in holy prayer. I know that if 



138 Choice of a State of Life. 

you resolve to give yourself entirely to God, 
the devil from that moment will increase his 
efforts to tempt you to fall into sin, and 
especially to make you entirely his, and to 
remain his. 

I conclude by offering you the assurance 
of my respectful consideration ; I pray the 
Lord to make you belong entirely to him- 
self, and remain, etc. 




&trtrice to a 20ung JJerson in SDottbt 
about tlje State of £ife wt}ittj Ql)c 
ongljt to (Embrace. 1 

Y dear Sister in Jesus Christ : 
You are deliberating about the 
choice of a state of life. I see 
that you are agitated because the world 
wishes you to belong to itself, and to enter 
the married state ; and, on the other hand, 
Jesus Christ wishes you to give yourself to 
him by becoming a nun in some convent 
of exact observance. 

Remember that on the choice which you 
make your eternal salvation will depend. 
Hence 1 recommend you, as soon as you 
read this advice, to implore the Lord, every 
day, to give you light and strength to em- 
brace that state which will be most condu- 

1 The holy author supposes in this case, as well as 
in the preceding answer, that the person to whom this 
advice is addressed is called to be a religious, or has 
at least the beginning of a vocation to the religious 
state, but the world keeps her back, and she hesitates. 
This supposition does not, however, hold good as re- 
gards a following letter that treats of the spiritual ex- 
ercises. — Ed. 



140 Choice of a State of Life, 

cive to your salvation ; that thus you may 
not afterwards, when your error is irrepara- 
ble, have to repent of the choice you have 
made for your whole life, and for all eter- 
nity. 

Examine whether you will be more 
happy in having for your spouse a man of 
the world, or Jesus Christ, the Son of God 
and the King of heaven ; see which of 
them appears to you the better spouse, and 
then make your choice. At the age of 
thirteen, the holy virgin St. Agnes was, on 
account of her extraordinary beauty, sought 
after by many. Among the rest, the son 
of the Roman Prefect asked her for his 
spouse; but looking at Jesus Christ, who 
wished her to belong to him, she said, I 
have found a spouse better than you and 
all the monarchs of this world ; therefore I 
cannot exchange him for any other. And 
rather than exchange him she was content 
to lose her life, and cheerfully suffered 
martyrdom for Jesus Christ. - The holy 
virgin Domitilla gave a similar answer to 
the Count Aurelian ; she, too, died a mar- 
tyr, and was burned alive, because she 
would not forsake Jesus Christ. Oh, how 
happy do these holy virgins now feel in 
heaven, how happy will they feel for aK 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 141 

eternity, at having made so good a choice ! 
The same happy lot awaits you, and will 
await all young persons who renounce the 
world in order to give themselves to Jesus 
Christ. 

In the next place, examine the conse- 
quences of the state of the person who 
chooses the world, and of the person who 
makes choice of Jesus Christ. The world 
offers earthly goods, riches, honors, amuse- 
ments, and pleasures. On the other hand, 
Jesus Christ presents to you scourges, 
thorns, opprobrium, and crosses ; for these 
were the goods which he chose for him- 
self all the days of his mortal life. But 
then he offers you two immense advan- 
tages which the world cannot give — peace 
of soul in this life, and paradise in the next. 

Moreover, before you decide on embrac- 
ing any state, you must reflect that your 
soul is immortal ; that is, that after the 
present life, which will soon end, you must 
pass into eternity, in which you will receive 
that place of punishment or of reward 
which you will have merited by your works 
during life. Thus you must remain for all 
eternity in the house either of eternal life 
or of eternal death, in which, after your de- 
parture from this world, it will be your lot 



142 Choice of a State of Life, 

first to dwell : you will be either forever 
saved and happy amid the joys of paradise, 
or forever lost and in despair in the torments 
of hell. In the mean time, consider that 
everything in this world must soon end. 
Happy all that are saved ; miserable the 
soul that is damned. Keep always in mind 
that great maxim of Jesus Christ : " What 
doth it profit a man if he gain the whole 
world and suffer the loss of his own soul ?" 
This maxim has sent so many from the world 
to shut themselves up in the cloister, or to 
live in the deserts ; it has inspired so many 
young persons with courage to forsake the 
world in order to give themselves to God 
and to die a holy death. 

On the other hand, consider the unhappy 
lot of so many ladies of fortune, so many 
princesses and queens, who in the world 
have been attended, praised, honored, and 
almost adored ; but if they are damned, 
what do they now find in hell of so much 
riches, of so many pleasures, of so many 
honors enjoyed in this life, but pains and 
remorse of conscience, which will torment 
them forever, as long as God shall be God, 
without any hope of remedy for their 
eternal ruin. 

But let us now cast a glance at the goods 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 143 

which the world gives in this life to its fol- 
lowers, and to the goods which God gives 
to her who loves him and forsakes the 
world for his sake. The world makes 
great promises ; but do we not all see that 
the world is a traitor that promises what it 
never performs ? But though it should ful- 
fil all its promises what does it give ? It 
gives earthly goods, but does it give the 
peace and the life of happiness which it 
promises ? All its goods delight the senses 
and the flesh, but do not content the heart 
and the soul. Our souls have been created 
by God for the sole purpose of loving him 
in this life, and of enjoying him in the 
next. Hence all the goods of the earth, all 
its delights, and all its grandeurs are out- 
side the heart ; they enter not into the soul, 
which God only can content. Solomon 
has even called all worldly goods vanities 
and lies, which do not content but rather 
afflict the soul. " Vanity of vanities and 
affliction of spirit ,, {Eccles. i. 14). This we 
know also from experience, for we see that 
the more a person abounds in these goods, 
the greater her anguish and misery of mind. 
If by its goods the world gave content to 
the soul, great indeed should be the happi- 
ness of princesses and queens, who want 



1 44 Choice of a State of Life, 

neither amusements, nor comedies, nor fes- 
tivities, nor banquets, nor splendid palaces, 
nor beautiful carriages, nor costly dresses, 
nor precious jewels, nor servants, nor ladies 
of honor to attend and pay homage to 
them. But no ; they who imagine them to 
be happy are deceived. Ask them whether 
they enjoy perfect peace, if they are per- 
fectly content, and they will answer : What 
peace? what content? They will tell you 
that they lead a life of misery, and that 
they know not what peace is. The mal- 
treatment which they receive from their 
husbands, the displeasure caused by their 
children, the wants of the house, the jeal- 
ousies and fears to which they are subject, 
make them live in the midst of continual 
anguish and bitterness. Married women 
may be called martyrs of patience if they 
bear all with resignation ; but unless they 
are patient and resigned, they will suffer a 
martyrdom in this world, and a more pain- 
ful martyrdom in the next. 

The remorse of conscience, though they 
had nothing else to suffer, keeps married 
persons in continual torment. Being at- 
tached to earthly goods, they reflect but 
little on spiritual things; they seldom ap- 
proach the sacraments, and seldom recom- 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 145 

mend themselves to God ; and, being de- 
prived of these helps to a good life, they will 
scarcely be able to live without sin, and 
without continual remorse of conscience. 
Behold, then, how all the joys promised by 
the world become to married persons sources 
of bitterness, of fears, and of damnation. 
How many of them will say, Unhappy me, 
what will become of me after so many sins, 
after the life which I led, at a distance from 
God, always going from bad to worse ? I 
would wish for retirement in order to spend 
a little time in mental prayer, but the affairs 
of the family and of the house, which is al- 
ways in confusion, do not permit this. I 
would wish to hear sermons, to go to con- 
fession, to communicate often ; I would wish 
to go often' to the church, but my husband 
does not wish it. My unceasing occupations, 
the care of children, the frequent visits of 
friends, keep me confined to the house ; and 
thus it is not without some difficulty that I 
can hear Mass at a late hour on festivals. 
How great was my folly in entering the 
married state, when I could become a saint 
in a convent ! But all these lamentations 
only serve to increase their pain ; because 
they see that it is no longer in their power 
to change the unhappy choice they have 



.146 Choice of a State of Life, 

made of living in the world. And if their 
life is unhappy, their death will be much 
more miserable. At that awful hour they 
will be surrounded by servants, by their hus- 
bands, and children, bathed in tears ; but in- 
stead of giving them relief, all these will be 
to them an occasion of greater affliction. 
And thus afflicted, poor in merits, and full 
of fears for their eternal salvation, they must 
go to present themselves to Jesus Christ to 
be judged by him. But, on the other hand, 
how great will be the happiness which a nun 
who has left the world for Jesus Christ will 
enjoy, living among so many spouses of 
God, and in a solitary cell, at a distance from 
the turmoils of the world, and from the con- 
tinual and proximate danger of losing God, 
to which seculars are exposed. How much 
greater will be her consolation at death, 
after having spent her years in meditations, 
mortifications, and in so many spiritual ex- 
ercises ; in visits to the Holy Sacrament, in 
confessions, Communions, acts of humility, 
of hope, and love of Jesus Christ! And 
though the devil should endeavor to terrify 
her by the faults committed in her younger 
days, her Spouse, for whom she has left the 
world, will console her ; and thus, full of con- 
fidence, she will die in the embraces of her 



And the Vocation to the Religious State, 147 

crucified Redeemer, who will conduct her to 
heaven, that there she may enjoy eternal 
happiness. 

Thus, my dear sister, since you must make 
choice of a state of life, make the choice now 
which you shall wish at death to have made. 
At death, every one who sees that for her 
the world is about to end says, Oh that I 
had led the life of a saint ! Oh that I had 
left the world and given myself to God ! 
But what is then done, is done, and nothing 
remains for her but to breathe forth her 
soul, and to go to hear from Jesus Christ the 
words, Come, blessed soul, and rejoice with 
me for eternity ; or, Begone forever to hell, 
at a distance from me. You, then, must 
choose the world or Jesus Christ. If you 
choose the world, you will probably sooner 
or later repent of the choice ; hence you 
ought to reflect well upon it. In the world 
the number of persons who are lost is very 
great ; in religion, the number of those who 
are damned is very small. Recommend 
yourself to Jesus crucified, and to most holy 
Mary, that they may make you choose the 
state which is most conducive to your 
eternal salvation. If you wish to become a 
nun, resolve to become a saint ; if you in- 
tend to lead a loose and imperfect life, like 



148 Choice of a State of Life. 

some religious, it is useless for you to enter 
a convent ; you should then only lead an 
unhappy life and die an unhappy death. 
But if you resolve not to become a religious, 
I cannot advise you to enter the married 
state, for St. Paul does not counsel that 
state to any one, except in case of necessity, 
which I hope does not exist for you. At 
least remain in your own house and en- 
deavor to become a saint. I entreat you to 
say the following prayer for nine days : 

My Lord Jesus Christ, who hast died for 
my salvation, I implore Thee, through the 
merits of Thy Passion, to give me light and 
strength to choose that state which is best 
for my salvation. And do thou, O my 
Mother Mary! obtain this grace for me by 
thy powerful intercession. 



5Disc0ttr0£ to |Jioti0 MaibcttB. 

mY dear Sisters in Jesus Christ : 
I do not intend to explain the 
privileges and blessings acquired 
by those maidens who consecrate their vir- 
ginity to Jesus Christ ; I shall only glance 
at them. 

Excellence of Virginity. 

First, they become in the eyes of God as 
beautiful as the angels of heaven : " They 
shall be as the angels of God in heaven" 
(Matt. xxii. 30). Baronius (Ann. 480) re- 
lates that upon the death of a holy virgin 
named Georgia an immense multitude of 
doves was seen flying around her ; and when 
the body was carried to the church, they 
ranged themselves along that part of the 
roof which corresponded to the < situation of 
the corpse, and did not leave until she was 
buried. Those doves were thought to be 
angels who accompanied that virginal body. 

Moreover, a maiden who leaves the world, 
and dedicates herself to Jesus Christ, be- 
comes his spouse. In the Gospel our Re- 
deemer is called Father, or Master, or Shep- 
herd of our souls ; but with regard to those 



150 Choice of a State of Life, 

virgins he calls himself their Spouse*, they 
" went out to meet the Bridegroom'.' {Matt. 
XXV. 1). 

When a young woman wishes to establish 
herself in the world, she will examine, if 
she be prudent, which of all her suitors is 
the most noble and the richest. Let us then 
learn from the Spouse in the sacred Canti- 
cles, who well knows — let us learn from her 
what manner of spouse is he whom con- 
secrated virgins aspire to. Tell me, O 
sacred Spouse, what manner of spouse is he 
who makes you the most fortunate of wom- 
en ? " My Beloved is white, she says, and 
ruddy, chosen among thousands" {Cant. v. 
10). He is all white by reason of his purity ; 
and ruddy, by reason of the love with which 
he burns. He is, in fine, so noble and so 
kind as to be the most amiable of spouses. 

With reason, then, did the glorious virgin 
St. Agnes, as we learn from St. Ambrose, 
when it was proposed to her to marry the 
son of the Prefect of Rome, reply that she 
had a much more advantageous match in 
view {De Virg. 1. 1). When some ladies 
were endeavoring to persuade St. Domitilla 
to marry Count Aurelian, nephew of the 
Emperor Domitian, saying there was no ob- 
stacle, as he was willing that she should re- 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 151 

main a Christian, the saint replied, Tell me, 
if a monarch and a clown both pretended 
to a maiden, which would she choose? 
Now, should I marry Aurelian, I would 
have to leave the King of heaven ; it would 
be folly — I will not do so. And thus, m 
order to remain faithful to Jesus Christ, to 
whom she had already consecrated her vir- 
ginity, she was willing to be burned alive — 
a death which her barbarous suitor caused 
her to suffer (Croiset, Ex ere. 12 Mai). 

Those spouses of Jesus Christ who leave 
the world for his sake become his be- 
loved ; they are called the first-fruits of the 
Lamb : " The first-fruits to God and to the 
Lamb" {Apoc. xiv. 4). Why the first-fruits? 
Because, says Cardinal Hugo, as the first- 
fruits are more grateful than any other to 
man, so virgins are dearer to God than any 
others. The divine Spouse feeds amongst 
the lilies : " Who feeds amongst the lilies" 
(Cant. ii. 16). And what is meant by lilies, 
if not those devout maidens who consecrate 
their virginity to Jesus Christ ? The ven- 
erable Bede writes that the song of the vir- 
gins — that is, the glory which they give to 
God by preserving untouched the lily of 
their purity — is far more pleasing to him 
than the song of all the other saints. 



152 Choice of a State of Life, 

Wherefore the Holy Ghost says that there 
is nothing comparable to virginity (Ecclus. 
xxvi. 20). And hence Cardinal Hugo re- 
marks that dispensations are often granted 
from other vows, but never from the vow of 
chastity; and the reason is, oecause no 
other treasure can compensate for the loss 
of that. And it is for the same reason that 
theologians say the Blessed Mother would 
have consented to forego the dignity of 
Mother of God could it have been had 
only at the expense of her virginity. 

Who on this earth can conceive the glory 
which God has prepared for his virgin 
spouses in paradise ? Theologians say that 
virgins have in heaven their own "aureola," 
or special crown of glory, which is refused 
to the other saints who are not virgins. 

But let us come at once to the most im- 
portant point in our discourse. 

This young woman will say, Cannot I be- 
come holy in the married state ? I do not 
wish to give you the reply in my own 
words ; hear those of St. Paul, and you will 
see the difference between the married 
woman and the virgin : " And the unmar- 
ried woman and the virgin thinketh on the 
things of the Lord, that she may be holy, 
both in body and in spirit ; but she that is 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 153 

married, thinketh on the things of the 
world, how she may please her husband " 
(1 Cor. vii. 34). And the Apostle adds : 
" And this I speak for your profit, not to cast a 
snare upon you, but for that which is decent, 
and which may give you ppwer to attend upon 
the Lord without impediment" {Ibid. 35). 

In the first place, I say that married per- 
sons can be holy in the spirit, but not in 
the flesh ; on the contrary, virgins who 
have consecrated their virginity to Jesus 
Christ are holy both in soul and body. 
Holy both in body and in spirit ; and mark 
those other words, to attend upon the Lord 
without impediment. Oh, how many obsta- 
cles have not married women to encounter 
in serving the Lord ! And the more noble 
they are the greater the obstacles. A 
woman to become holy must adopt the 
necessary means, which are, much mental 
prayer, constant use of the sacraments, and 
continual thought of God. But what time 
has a married woman for thinking upon 
God? "She that is married thinketh on 
the things of the world," says St. Paul. 
The married woman has to think of provid- 
ing her family with food and raiment. She 
has to think of rearing her children, of 
pleasing her husband and her husband's 



154 Choice of a State of Life> 

relatives ; whence, as the Apostle says, her 
heart is divided between God, her husband, 
and her children. Her husband must be 
attended to; the children cry and scream, 
and are continually asking for a thousand 
things. What time can she have to attend 
to mental prayer, who can scarce attend to 
all the business of the house? How can 
she pray amid so many distracting 
thoughts and disturbances? Scarcely can 
she go to church, to recollect herself, and 
communicate upon the Sunday. She may 
have the good desire, but it will be difficult 
for her to attend to the things of God as 
she ought. It is true that in this want of 
opportunities she may gain merit, by resig- 
nation to the will of God, who requires of 
her, in that state, chiefly patience and res- 
ignation ; but in the midst of. so many dis- 
tractions and annoyances, without prayer, 
without meditation, without frequenting 
the sacraments, it will be morally impossi- 
ble for her to have that holy patience and 
resignation. 

But would to God that married women 
had no other, evil to contend with besides 
that of not always being able to attend to 
their sanctification as much as they should ! 
The greater evil is the danger to which 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 155 

they are continually exposed of losing the 
grace of God, by reason of the intercourse 
which they must continually have with the 
relatives and friends of their husband, as 
well in their own houses as in the houses of 
others. Unmarried women do not under- 
stand this, but married women and those 
who have to hear their confessions know it 
well. Let us, however, now have done with 
the unhappy life which is led by married 
women, the ill-treatment that they receive 
from their husbands, the disobedience of 
children, the wants of a family, the annoy- 
ance of mothers-in-law and relatives, the 
throes of childbirth, always accompanied by 
danger of death, not to mention the afflic- 
tions of jealousy, and scruples of conscience 
with regard to the rearing-up of their chil- 
dren, — all of this breeds a tempest under 
which poor married women have continu- 
ally to groan ; and God grant that in this 
tempest they may not lose themselves, so 
as to meet with hell in the other world, 
after having suffered a hell in this ! Such* 
is the unenviable lot of those maidens who 
choose the world ! 

But what! such a maiden replies, are 
there no married women holy ? Yes, I an- 
swer, there are ; but who are they ? Such 



156 Choice of a State of Life, 

only as become holy through their suffer- 
ings, by suffering all for God without 
finding fault, and with continual patience. 
And how many married women are to be 
found in such a state of perfection ? They 
are very rare ; and if you find any, they are 
always in sorrow that when they could 
have done so they did not consecrate 
themselves to Jesus Christ. Amongst all 
the devout married women I have known, I 
never knew one to be satisfied with her 
condition. 

The greatest happiness, then, falls to the 
lot of those maidens who consecrate them- 
selves to Jesus Christ. Those have to en- 
counter none of the dangers which married 
women must necessarily be placed in. They 
are not bound to earth by love of children, 
or men, or dress, or gallantry, whilst married 
women are obliged to dress with pomp and 
ornaments, in order to appear with their 
equals and please their husbands. A maiden 
who has given herself to Jesus Christ re- 
quires only what dress will cover her ; nay, 
she should give scandal if she were to wear 
any other, or make use of any ornaments. 
Moreover, virgins have no anxiety about 
house or children or relatives ; their whole 
care is centred in pleasing Jesus Christ, to 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 157 

whom they have consecrated their soul, 
their body, and all their love ; whence it is 
that they have more time, and a mind more 
disengaged, for frequent prayer and Com- 
munion. 

But let us now come to the excuses some- 
times brought forward by those who are 
cold in the love of Jesus Christ. 

Such a one will say: I should leave the 
world if I had some convent to go to, or, at 
least, if I could always spend my time in de- 
votion at the church when I should please ; 
but I could not remain at home, where I 
have bad brothers who ill-treat me ; and, on 
the other hand, my parents are unwilling to 
have me frequent the church. But, I ask 
you, is it in order to save yourself, or lead 
an easy life, you leave the world? Is it 
to do your own will or the will of Jesus 
Christ? If you wish to become holy and 
serve Jesus Christ, I ask you another ques- 
tion : In what does holiness consist ? Holi- 
ness does not consist in living in a convent, 
or spending the entire day in a church, but 
in being at confession and Communion as 
often as you can, in obedience, in doing 
everything assigned you at home, in being 
retired, in bearing labor and contempt. 
And if you were to be in a convent, how 



158 Choice of a State of Life, 

should you be employed ? Do you imagine 
you should always be either in church or in 
your cell, or in the refectory, or at recrea- 
tion ? In the convent, although the Sisters 
have a time marked out for prayer, for Mass, 
and for Communion, they have also their 
hours appointed for the business of the 
house, and more especially the lay-sisters, 
who, as they do not attend in the choir, 
have nearly all the labor of the house, and 
consequently least time for prayer. All ex- 
claim, Let us be in a convent, let us have a 
convent ! How much more easy is it for de- 
vout girls to become holy in their own 
houses than in a convent ! How many such 
have I known to regret having entered a 
convent, especially when the Community 
was large, the poor lay-sister in certain of- 
fices having scarcely time to say the rosary ! 
But, Father, such a girl will answer, I 
have at home a peevish father and mother ; 
I have bad brothers : all of them use me ill ; 
I cannot stand this. Well, I say, and if you 
marry, will you not have to deal with moth- 
ers and sisters-in-law, and perhaps undutiful 
children, and perhaps a harsh husband? 
Oh, how many cruel husbands are there not, 
who when first married promised great 
things, but shortly afterwards ceased to be 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 159 

husbands, and became the tyrants of their 
wives, treating them not as companions, but 
as slaves ? Inquire of many married women 
whether this be not the fact. But, without 
going beyond your own home, you all know 
how your mothers fared. One thing, at 
least, is certain, that all you should have to 
suffer at home, after having given yourself 
to God, you should suffer for the love of 
Jesus Christ, and he knows how to make 
your cross sweet and light to you. But how 
dreadful is it not to suffer for the world's 
sake ! — to suffer without merit ! Courage, 
then ! If Jesus Christ has called you to his 
love, and wishes to have you for his spouse, 
go on joyfully ; it will be his care to afford 
you consolation even in the midst of suffer- 
ings. This, of course, will be only in case 
you truly love him, and live as his spouse. 

Means to preserve Virginal Purity. 

Hear, then, for the last time, the means 
that you are to adopt in order to become 
holy, and live a true spouse of Jesus Christ ; 
and these are, to practise the virtues becom- 
ing his spouse. We read in the Gospel 
that the kingdom of heaven is likened unto 
virgins. But to what virgins ? Not to the 
foolish, but to the wise. The wise were ad- 



160 Choice of a State of Life, 

mitted to the nuptials, but the door was 
shut in the face of the foolish ; to whom the 
Spouse said, I know you not {Matt. xxv. i) 
— you are indeed virgins, but I do not ac- 
knowledge you for my spouses. The true 
spouses of Jesus Christ follow the Spouse 
whithersoever he goeth. " These follow 
the Lamb whithersoever he goeth" {Apoc. 
xiv. 4). What is the meaning of following 
the Lamb ? St. Augustine (De Virginit. c. 
25) says that it means the imitation of the 
Lamb both in body and mind. After you 
have consecrated your body to him, you 
must consecrate to him your whole heart, 
so that your heart may be entirely devoted 
to his love ; and, therefore, you must adopt 
all the means that are necessary for making 
you belong entirely to Jesus Christ. 

1. The first of those means is mental 
prayer, to which you must be most atten- 
tive. But do not imagine that, in order to 
pray thus, it is necessary for you to be in a 
convent, or remain all day in the church. 
It is true that at home there is much dis- 
turbance created by the persons there; 
nevertheless, those who wish can find time 
and place for prayer : this is in the morning 
before the others rise, and at night after the 
others have gone to bed. In order to pray, 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 1 6 1 

it is not necessary to be always on bended 
knees; you can pray whilst laboring, and 
even when walking out on business (should 
you have no other opportunity), by raising 
your soul to God, and thinking on the Pas- 
sion of Jesus Christ, or any other pious sub- 
ject. 

2. The second means is, the frequenta- 
tion of the sacraments of confession and 
Communion. With regard to confession, 
each one has to make choice of a confessor, 
whom she is to obey in everything, other- 
wise she will never walk steadily in the way 
of perfection. As to Communion, she must 
not depend solely upon obedience ; she 
must desire it, and ask for it. This divine 
food must be hungered after ; Jesus Christ 
must be desired. It is frequent Commun- 
ion that renders his spouses faithful to 
Jesus Christ, especially in the preservation 
of holy purity. The Most Holy Sacrament 
preserves the soul in every virtue ; and it 
appears that its most special effect is to pre- 
serve untouched the chastity of virgins, ac- 
cording to the saying of the prophet, who 
calls this sacrament the corn of the elect, and 
wine springing forth virgins (Zach. ix. 17). 

3. The third means is, retirement and 
caution : " As the lily amongst the thorns, 



1 62 Choice of a State of JLife, 

so is my beloved amongst the daughters" 
{Cant. ii. 2). For a virgin to think of re- 
maining faithful to Jesus Christ amid the 
conversations, the jests, and other amuse- 
ments of the world, is useless ; it is neces- 
sary that she preserve herself amid the 
thorns of abstinence and mortification, by 
using not only the greatest modesty and re- 
serve in speaking with men, but even all 
austerity and penitential exercises when 
necessary. Such are the thorns which pre- 
serve the lilies ; I mean young maidens, who 
otherwise should soon be lost. The Lord 
calls the cheeks of his spouse as beautiful 
as those of the turtle : " Thy cheeks are 
beautiful as the turtle dove's" {Cant. i. 9). 
And why so? Because the turtle, by in- 
stinct, avoids the company of other birds, 
and always remains alone. That virgin, 
then, appears beautiful in the eyes of Jesus 
Christ who does all that she can to hide 
herself from the eyes of others. St. Jerome 
says that Jesus is a jealous spouse {Eftist. ad 
Eust.). Hence he is much displeased when 
he sees a virgin dedicated to him endeav- 
oring to appear before men to please them. 
Pious maidens endeavor to appear repulsive, 
that they may not attract men. The vener- 
able Sister Catharine of Jesus, afterwards a 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 163 

Teresian nun, washed her face with the 
filthy water of tar, and then designedly ex- 
posed her face to the sun, that she might 
lose her complexion. St. Andregesina hav- 
ing, as we are told by Bollandus, been prom- 
ised in marriage, prayed the Lord to deform 
her, and was heard, for she was immediately 
covered with a leprosy which caused every 
one to avoid her ; and as soon as her suitor 
had ceased his offers, her former beauty was 
restored. It is related by James di Viatrico 
that there was a certain virgin in a convent 
whose eyes had inflamed a prince. The 
latter threatened to set fire to the monastery 
if she would not yield to him ; but she plucked 
out her eyes and sent them to him in a basin, 
the bearer of which was instructed to say, 
" Here are the darts which have wounded 
your heart — take them, and leave me my 
soul untouched " ( Vita S. Ansb. 9 Febr.). 
The same author tells of St. Euphemia, that, 
having been promised by her father to a 
certain count, who left no means untried to 
obtain her, she, in order to free herself from 
his addresses, cut off her nose and lips, say- 
ing to herself, " Vain beauty, you shall 
never be to me an occasion of sin!" St. 
Antoninus tells something similar (and his 
account is confirmed by Baronius) of the 



164 Choice of a State of Life, 

Abbess Ebba, who, fearing an invasion of 
the barbarians, cut off her nose and upper 
lip to the teeth ; and that all the other nuns, 
to the number of thirty, following her ex- 
ample, did the same. The barbarians came, 
and seeing them so deformed, set fire to the 
monastery through rage and burned them 
alive; and hence the Church, as Baronius 
tells us, has enrolled them among her mar- 
tyrs. This is not allowable for others to 
do; those saints did so by the especial im- 
pulse of the Holy Ghost. But it sufficiently 
well answers the purpose of showing you 
what virgins who loved Jesus Christ have 
done to prevent men from seeking them. 
Devout virgins at present should at least 
move as modestly, and be seen as little as 
possible by men. Should it happen that a 
virgin should, by chance, and without any 
fault of hers, receive by violence any insult 
from men, be it known to you that after it 
she will remain as pure as before. St. Lucia 
made an answer of this kind to the tyrant 
who threatened to dishonor her. " If you 
do," she said, "and I be so treated against 
my will, my crown shall be double." It is 
the consent only that is hurtful ; and know, 
moreover, that if a virgin be modest and 



And the Vocation to the Religious State, 165 

reserved, men will have no inclination to 
interfere with her. 

4. The fourth means of preserving purity- 
is the mortification of the senses. St. Basil 
says, " A virgin should not be immodest in 
any respect, — in tongue, ears, eyes, touch, 
and still less in mind" {De vera Virg.). A 
virgin, in order to keep herself pure, must 
be modest in her speech, conversing seldom 
with men, and that only through necessity, 
and in few words. Her ears must be pure, 
by not listening to worldly conversations. 
Her eyes must be pure, by being either 
closed, or fixed upon the earth in the pres- 
ence of men. She must be pure in touch, 
using therein all possible caution, both as 
regards herself and others. She must be 
pure in spirit, by resisting all immodest! 
thoughts, through the help of Jesus and 
Mary. And to this end she must mortify 
herself with fasting, abstinence, and other 
penitential exercises ; which things she 
must not practise without the consent of 
rhe confessor, otherwise they should injure 
her soul by making her proud. Those acts 
of penance must not be made without the 
confessor's permission, but they must be 
desired and sought for ; for the confessor, 
if he does not see the penitent wishing for 



1 66 Choice of a State of Ltfe y 

them, will not give them. Jesus is a spouse 
of blood, who espoused our souls upon the 
cross, whereon he shed all his blood for us. 
"A bloody spouse art thou to me" (Exod. 
iv. 25). Therefore those spouses who love 
him, love tribulation, infirmity, sorrows, ill- 
treatment, and injuries ; and receive them 
not only with patience, but with joy. Thus 
may we understand that passage which says 
that " virgins follow the Lamb whitherso- 
ever he goeth " (Aftoc. xiv. 2). They follow 
their spouse Jesus with joy and gladness 
whithersoever he goeth, even through sor- 
row and disgrace, as has been done by so 
many holy virgins, who have followed him 
to torments and to death, smiling and re- 
joicing. 

5. Finally, Sisters, in order that you may 
obtain perseverance in this holy life, you 
must recommend yourselves often and much 
to Most Holy Mary, the Queen of Virgins. 
She is the mediatrix who negotiates those 
espousals, and brings virgins to espouse her 
Son. "After her shall virgins be brought 
to the King" (Ps. xliv. 15). It is she, in 
fine, who obtains fidelity for those chosen 
spouses ; for, without her assistance, they 
should be all unfaithful. 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 167 



Conclusion. 

Come on, then, you who intend to live no 
longer for the world, but for Jesus Christ 
alone. (I address myself to those who feel 
themselves called by that divine Spouse to 
consecrate themselves to his love.) I do 
not wish that you should make any vow 
this morning, or oblige yourselves at once 
to perpetual chastity. You should do that 
when God inspires you, and your confessor 
is willing. I only desire you by a simple 
act, and without any obligation, to thank 
Jesus Christ for having called you to his 
love ; and to offer yourselves to him hence- 
forward for your entire lives. Say then to 
him : 

O my Jesus, my God, and my Redeemer ! 
who hast died for me, compassionate me 
who burn to call myself Thy spouse. I 
burn, because I see that Thou hast called 
me to that honor ; nor do I know how to 
thank Thee for that grace. I should now 
have been in hell; and Thou instead of 
chastising me, hast called me to be Thy 
spouse. Yes, my Spouse, I leave the world, 
I leave all through Jove of Thee, and give 
myself entirely to Thee. What world? — 



1 68 Choice of a State of Life. 

what world do I speak of ? My Jesus, 
henceforward Thou art to be my only good 
— my only love. I see that Thou wishest 
to have my entire heart, and I wish to re- 
sign it entirely to Thee. Receive me in 
Thy mercy, and do not reject me as I have 
deserved that Thou shouldst. Forget all 
the offences that I have given Thee, of which 
I repent with my whole soul ; would that I 
had died before offending Thee ! Pardon 
me ; inflame me with Thy holy love, and 
give me Thy aid, in order that I may be 
faithful to Thee, and never leave Thee 
more. Thou, my Spouse, hast given Thyself 
all to me. Behold ! I give myself entirely 
to Thee. Mary, my Queen and my Mother, 
chain my heart to that of Jesus Christ; and 
fasten both hearts so that they be never 
sundered more. 

I leave you now my blessing, in order 
that you may be so bound to Jesus Christ 
as never again to depart from him. Give 
your hearts now to Jesus Christ : Say, Jesus 
my Spouse, henceforward I wish to love 
only Thee, and nothing else. 



91 £*tter to a U onng Stnirent tnljo 10 
^Deliberating on tlje Choice of a 
State of Cife. 

tHAVE received your last favor, in 
which you tell me that you are still 
undecided as to the state of life you 
should choose, and that having communi- 
cated to your pastor the counsel I gave you, 
namely, to go for that purpose to perform 
the spiritual exercises in that house which 
your father has in the country, the said 
pastor answered you, that it was not neces- 
sary for you to go to that house to torture 
your brains during eight days in solitude, 
but that it was enough for you to attend the 
exercises he would soon give to the people 
in his own church. Since, then, on this last 
point of the exercises, you again ask my 
advice, it is necessary that I should answer 
you more at length, and show you, first, 
how much greater the fruit of the spiritual 
exercises is when they are performed in 
silence, in some retired place, than when 
performed whilst they are given in public, 
when one is obliged during them to go to 
one's own house, and continues to converse 
169 



170 Choice of a State of Life, 

with one's parents and friends; and the 
more so in your case, as you write to me 
you have in your house no room to which 
you may retire. On the other hand, I am 
very much in favor of those exercises per- 
formed in solitude, as I know it is to such I 
owe my own conversion and my resolution 
to leave the world. I will then secondly 
suggest to you the means and precautions 
to be taken during the exercises, in order to 
obtain from them the fruit you desire. I beg 
you, when you have read this letter your- 
self, to give it to your Reverend pastor to 
read it also. 



Let us, then, speak first of the great 
benefit of the exercises, when they are per- 
formed in solitude, where one treats with 
no person but God ; and first of all let us see 
the reason for it. 

The truths of eternal life, such as the 
great affair of our salvation, the value of 
the time God gives us that we may amass 
merits for a happy eternity, the obligations 
we are under to love God for his infinite 
goodness and the immense love that he 
bears towards us — these and similar things 
are not seen with the eyes of the flesh, but 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 171 

with those of the mind. It is, on the con- 
trary, certain that, unless our intellect repre- 
sents the value of a good or the greatness 
of an evil to £he will, we shall never em- 
brace that good nor reject that evil. And 
this is the ruin of those who are attached 
to the world ; they live in darkness : whence 
it happens that, not knowing the greatness 
of eternal good and evil, and allured by 
the senses, they give themselves up to for- 
bidden pleasure, and miserably perish. 

Therefore the Holy Ghost admonishes us 
that in order to avoid sin we must keep 
before our eyes the last things that are to 
come upon us, that is, death, with which 
all the goods of this earth will come to an 
end for us, and the divine judgment, in 
which we shall have to give an account of 
our whole life. " Remember thy last end, 
and thou shalt never sin" (Ecclus. vii. 40). 
And in another place he says : " O that they 
would be wise and would understand, and 
would provide for their last end " (Dent. 
xxxii. 29). By which words he wishes to 
give us to understand that, if men would 
consider the things of the other life, they 
would all certainly take care to sanctify 
themselves, and would not expose them- 
selves to the danger of an unhappy life 



172 Choice of a State of Life, 

through all eternity. They shut their eyes 
to the light, and thus remaining blind, pre- 
cipitate themselves into so great evils. For 
this reason the saints always prayed the 
Lord to give them light. " Enlighten my 
eyes, that I never sleep in death" (Ps. xii. 
4). " May God cause the light of his coun- 
tenance to shine upon us" (Ps. lxvi. 2). 
" Make the way known to me wherein I 
should walk" (Ps. cxliii. 8). "Give me 
understanding, and I will learn thy com- 
mandments" (Ps. cxviii. 73). 

But to obtain this divine light we must 
go near to God. " Come ye to him and be 
enlightened " (Ps. xxxiii. 6). " For," says St. 
Augustine, " as we cannot see the sun with- 
out the light of the sun itself, so we cannot 
see the light of God but by the light of 
God himself" (De Sp. et An. c. 12). This 
light is obtained in the spiritual exercises : 
by them we approach to God, and God en- 
i lightens us with his light. The spiritual 
exercises mean nothing else than that we 
retire for that time from intercourse with 
the world, and go to converse with God 
alone, where God speaks to us by his inspi- 
rations, and we speak to God in our medi- 
tations, by acts of love, by repenting of our 
sins by which we have displeased him, by 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 173 

offering ourselves to serve him for the 
future with all our heart, and by beseeching 
him to make known to us his will, and to 
give us strength to accomplish it. 

Holy Job said, " Now I should have rest 
in my sleep with kings and consuls of the 
earth, who build themselves solitudes" (Job 
iii. 13). Who are those kings that build 
themselves solitudes? They are, as St« 
Gregory says, those despisers of the world, 
who go from its tumults to render them- 
selves fit to talk alone with God : " They 
build solitudes, that is, they separate them- 
selves as far as possible from the tumult of 
the world, in order to be alone and to be- 
come fit to speak with God " (In Job, loc. 

When Arsenius was reflecting on the 
means he should take to become a saint, 
God caused him to hear these words : " Fly, 
be silent, and rest." Fly from the world, 
be silent, cease to talk with men, and talk 
only with me, and thus rest in peace and 
solitude. In conformity with this, St. An- 
selm wrote to one worried by many worldly 
occupations, who complained that he had 
no moment of peace, the following advice : 
" Leave a little your occupations, hide 
yourself for a while from your tumultuous 



174 Choice of a State of Life, 

thoughts, apply yourself a little to contem- 
plate God and rest in him ; say to God : 
Now teach my heart where and how I shall 
seek Thee, where and how I shall find 
Thee" {Medit. 21). Words that are appli- 
cable each and all to yourself. Fly, says he, 
for a short time from those earthly occupa- 
tions, which render you so unquiet, and 
rest in retirement with God ; say to him : 
O Lord, show me where and how I may find 
Thee, that I may speak alone to Thee, and 
at the same time hear Thy words. 

God speaks indeed to those who seek 
him, but he does not speak in the midst 
of the tumult of the world. " The Lord 
is not in the earthquake" (3 Kings, xix. 
11), as it was said to Elias, when God 
called him to solitude. The voice of God, 
as it is said in the,same place, is as "the 
whistling of a gentle air" {Ibid. 12), which 
is scarcely heard, not however by the ear of 
the body, but by that of the heart without 
noise and in a sweet rest. This is exactly 
what the Lord says through Osee : " I will 
lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak 
to her heart " {Osee ii. 14). When the Lord 
wishes to draw a soul to himself, he leads 
it into solitude, far from the embarrassment 
of the world and intercourse with men, and 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 175 

there speaks to it with words of fire (Ps. 
cxviii. 140). The words of God are said to 
be of fire, because they melt a soul, as the 
sacred spouse said : " My soul melted, when 
he [my beloved] spoke" (Cant. v. 6). In 
fact, they prepare the soul to submit readily 
to the direction of God, and to take that 
form of life which God wishes it to take ; 
they are words exceedingly efficacious, and 
so efficient, that at the very time they are 
heard they operate in the soul that which 
God requires of it. 

One day the Lord said to St. Teresa, 
" Oh ! how willingly would I speak to 
many souls, but the world makes so great a 
noise in their hearts that my voice cannot 
be heard. Oh ! if they would but separate 
themselves a little from the world." Thus, 
then, my very dear friend, the Lord wishes 
to speak to you, but alone and in solitude ; 
since if he should speak to you in your own 
, house, your parents, your friends, and your 
domestic occupations would continue to 
make a noise in your heart, and you would] 
be unable to hear his voice. The saints 
have for this reason left their homes and 
their country, and gone to hide themselves 
in caverns or deserts, or at least in a cell of 
a religious house, there to find God and 



176 Choice of a State of Life y 

hear his words. St. Eucherius relates 
{Epist. ad Ht'L) that a certain person, seek- 
ing a place in which she could find God, 
went for this purpose to ask counsel from a 
master of the spiritual life. The man of 
God led her to a solitary place, and then 
said : " Behold, here God may be found," 
without saying anything more. By this he 
wished to give her to understand that God 
is not to be found in the midst of the noise 
of the world, but in solitude. St. Bernard 
says that he learned to know God among 
the beech-trees and oaks better than in all 
the learned books he had read. 

The inclination of worldlings is to be in 
company with friends, to talk and divert 
themselves ; but the desire of the saints is 
to be in solitary places, in the midst of for- 
ests, or in caverns, there to converse alone 
with God, who in solitude familiarly con- 
verses with souls, as a friend with his 
friend. "O solitude," exclaims St. Jerome, 
" in which God familiarly converses with 
his servants !" The Venerable Vincent 
Caraffa said that if it had been free to him 
to wish for anything in this world, he 
would have asked for nothing but a little 
grotto with a piece of bread and a spiritual 
book, there always to live far from men 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 177 

and conversing alone with God. The 
Spouse of the Canticles praising the beauty 
of a soul living in solitude, compares it 
to the beauty of the turtle-dove : " Thy 
cheeks are beautiful as the turtle-dove's" 
{Cant. i. 9). Precisely because the turtle- 
dove avoids the company of other birds, 
and always lives in the most solitary places. ' 
Thence it is that the holy angels admire 
with joy the beauty and splendor which 
embellish on its flight to heaven a soul 
that in this life has lived hidden and soli- 
tary as in a desert. "Who is this that 
cometh up from the desert flowing with 
delights ?" (Cant. viii. 5.) 

I have wished to write all these things to 
you in order to inspire you with a love for 
holy solitude, for I hope that in the exer- 
cises that you will perform you will not 
have to torture your brains, as your pastor 
said, but that the Lord will make you taste 
so great a spiritual delight, that you will 
come out of your retreat with such an af- 
fection for them, that you will not fail here-* 
after to go through them every year — a 
thing which will be of immense advantage 
to your soul, whatever state of life you may 
choose, because in the midst of the world 
the various occupations, disturbances, and 



178 Choice of a State of Life, 

distractions always produce dryness of 
spirit, so that it is necessary from time to 
time to irrigate, as it were, and renew it, as 
St. Paul exhorts, " Be renewed in the spirit 
of your mind " (Ephes. iv. 23). 

Xing David, troubled by earthly cares, 
wished to have wings and fly away from 
the bustle of the world in order to find 
rest : " Who will give me wings, and I will 
fly, and be at rest" (Ps. liv. 7). But being 
unable to leave the world with his body, 
he at least sought from time to time to 
disengage himself from the affairs of the 
realm he governed, and dwell in solitude 
conversing with God, and thus his spirit 
found peace. " I have gone far off flying 
away, and I abode in the wilderness" {Ibid. 
v. 8). 

Jesus Christ also, who had no need of 
solitude to be recollected and united with 
God, but wished to set us an example, often 
retired from intercourse with man and went 
away to mountains or into deserts to pray : 
" Having dismissed the multitude, he went 
up into a mountain alone to pray" (Matt. 
xiv. 23) : and " He retired into a desert and 
prayed " {Luke v. 16). And he desired that 
his disciples, after the fatigue of their mis- 
sions, should retire to some solitary place 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 179 

to rest in spirit ; " Come apart into a desert 
place, and rest a little" (Mark vi. 31) : de- 
claring by this that the spirit, even amidst 
spiritual occupations, being obliged to treat 
with men, becomes somewhat relaxed, 
. whence it becomes necessary to renew it in 
solitude. 

Worldlings, who are accustomed to divert 
themselves in conversations, at banquets 
and plays, believe that in solitude, where 
no such things are found, one must suffer 
an insupportable tediousness ; and this is 
really the case with those who have a con- 
science defiled by sin ; for when they are 
occupied in the affairs of this world, they 
do not think of the things of the soul, but 
when they are disengaged and in solitude, 
as they do not seek God, they feel at once 
the remorse of their conscience, and thus 
find not peace, but tediousness and pain. 
But give me one who seeks God : and he 
shall find in solitude not tediousness, but 
contentment and joy. This the wise man 
assures us of : " For her [wisdom's] conver- 
sation hath no bitterness, nor her company 
any tediousness, but joy and gladness" 
{Wisd. viii. 16). Oh, no; to converse with 
God causes no bitterness, nor tediousness 
but joy and peace. 



180 Choice of a State of Life, 

Cardinal Bellarmine used during the sea- 
son, when other cardinals went to divert 
themselves in country-seats and villas, to 
go to some solitary house to make the ex- 
ercises during a month, and these he called 
his country diversions ; and certainly his 
heart found more delight in them than all ^ 
the others did in their amusements. 

St. Charles Borromeo made the exercises 
every year, and found in them his paradise 
on earth ; and it was whilst he was one 
year engaged in these exercises on Mount 
Varalla, that his last illness came upon him 
and brought him to his blessed end. For 
this reason St. Jerome said, that solitude 
was a paradise which he had discovered on 
earth : " Solitude is a paradise to me" 
{Epist. ad Rust.), 

But perhaps some one will say, what con- 
tentment can a person find being alone and 
having no one to converse with ? St. Ber- 
nard answers, " He who seeks God is by no 
means alone in solitude, for God himself is 
there with him, and renders him more con- 
tent than if he had the company of the first 
princes of the world." " I was never less 
alone," writes the holy abbot, " than when 
I was alone" {De Vita sol.). The prophet 
Isaias describing the sweetness which God 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 181 

gives those to taste who go to seek him in 
solitude, says : " The Lord therefore will 
comfort Sion, and will comfort all the ruins 
thereof ; and he will make her desert as a 
place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the 
garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness 
shall be found therein, thanksgiving and 
the voice of praise" (Jsa. li. 3). The Lord 
well knows how to comfort a soul that re- 
tires from the world ; he recompenses a 
thousand-fold all the pleasures of the world 
it foregoes, and makes solitude become for 
it a garden of delight, where, all the tumult 
of the world being excluded and there be- 
ing only thanksgiving and praise to that 
God who treats it so lovingly, it finds a 
peace that satiates it. If there were no 
other contentment in solitude than that of 
knowing the eternal truths, this alone 
should be sufficient to induce us to desire 
it. Divine truth, when known, truly sati- 
ates the soul, and not the vanities of the 
world, which are but lying and deceitful 
things, and this is precisely that great 
delight which is found in the exercises 
made in solitude and silence. In them 
we see in their purest light the Christian 
maxims, the importance of eternal salva- 
tion, the ugliness of sin, the value of grace 



1 82 Choice of a State of Life, 

the love of God towards us, the vanity of 
the goods of this world, and the foolishness 
of those who, in order to acquire them, lose 
eternal goods and prepare for themselves 
an eternity of pains. 

Whence it happens that the soul at the 
sight of these truths takes the most effica- 
cious means to secure its eternal salvation, 
and rises above itself, as Jeremias says : 
" He shall sit solitary and hold his peace 
because he hath taken it up upon himself" 
{Lam. iii. 28). There man disengages him- 
self from earthly affections, and unites him- 
self to God in prayer, by the desire of be- 
longing to him altogether, by offering him- 
self to him, and by other repeated acts of 
sorrow, love, and resignation, and thus finds 
himself raised so high above all created 
things, that he laughs at those who so much 
prize the goods of this world which he de- 
spises, knowing them to be too little and 
too unworthy of the love of a heart created 
to love the infinite good, which is God. 

It is certain that he who comes out of the 
exercises comes out of them much changed 
and better than he was when he began them 
It was the opinion of St. John Chrysostom 
that retirement is a great help towards 
the acquisition of perfection. Therefore a 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 183 

learned author, speaking of the exercises, 
writes thus : " Happy the man whom Christ 
leads from the noise of the world to the 
spiritual exercises, and into the solitude 
filled with heavenly sweetness." Happy 
indeed is the man who, flying from the 
tumult of the world, lets the Lord lead him 
to the spiritual exercises, where he enjoys a 
solitude which gives him a foretaste of the 
deiights of paradise. The sermons preached 
in churches are good, but if the hearers do 
not apply themselves to reflect on them, 
little will be the fruit that they will derive 
from them. Our reflections on them will 
never be made as they should if we do not 
make them in solitude. The sea-shell after 
having received the dew of heaven sud- 
denly shuts itself and goes down to the 
bottom of the sea, and there the pearl is 
formed. It is an undoubted fact that what 
makes the fruit of the exercises perfect is 
our reflecting in silence (treating alone with 
God) on the truths heard in the sermon or 
read in the book. Therefore St. Vincent 
of Paul, in the missions he gave, always in- 
vited the hearers to perform the exercises, 
retired in some solitary place. One single 
holy maxim, well ruminated, is sufficient to 
make a saint. St. Francis Xavier left the 



184 Choice of a State of Life, 

world in consequence of the impression 
made on him by that sentence of the Gos- 
pel : " What doth it profit a man if he gain 
the whole world and suffer the loss of his 
own soul ?" {Matt. xvi. 26.) A certain stu- 
dent, in consequence of one single sentiment 
on death, suggested to him by a good re- 
ligious, changed his bad life and became 
virtuous. St. Clement of Ancyra was en- 
couraged by another consideration on eter- 
nity suggested to him by his mother, namely, 
"The thing that we contend for is life 
eternal," and joyously suffered for Jesus 
Christ many torments inflicted on him by 
the tyrant. 

To conceive, then, a just idea of the fruit 
which the exercises produce when per- 
formed in solitude, read a book on this sub- 
ject, if you have one, and see there the 
stupendous conversions occasioned by 
them. I will here mention a few. 

Father Maffei relates that there was in 
Siena a priest who gave public scandal. 
This priest having made the exercises with 
a missionary who passed by accident through 
Siena, was not only converted and made 
a good confession, but on a certain day, 
whilst a great number of people were pres- 
ent in the church, he went into the pulpit 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 185 

weeping, and having a cord round his neck, 
and asked pardon for all the scandals that 
he had given; and after this he went away 
to become a Capuchin and died as a saint. 
On his death-bed he confessed that for all 
the graces he had received he was indebted 
to those spiritual exercises. 

Moreover, Father Bartoli relates of a cer- 
tain German knight, who had given himself 
up to all kinds of vice, — so far as to give his 
soul to the devil by a written contract 
signed with his own blood, — that having 
afterwards performed the exercises, he con- 
ceived so great a sorrow for his sins that he 
fainted several times, and thenceforth he 
continued to lead a penitential life as long 
as he lived. 

Father Rossignoli relates that in Sicily a 
son of a certain baron became so debauched, 
that his father, after having tried without 
effect many means to correct him, was 
obliged to put him in chains in a galley 
with the slaves. But a certain good re- 
ligious, moved by compassion, went to see 
him, and by his winning manners and good 
advice induced him to meditate on certain 
eternal truths in the galley where he was 
confined. The young man having done so, 
wished to make a general confession, and 



1 86 Choice of a State of Life, 

showed such a change in his conduct, that 
his father with much joy received him again 
into his house, and never afterwards had 
any reason to be displeased with him. 

Another youth of Flanders, having made 
the exercises and being converted by them 
from a most wicked life he had been lead- 
ing, said afterwards to his companions, who 
were wondering at this : " You wonder at 
me ; but I tell you that the devil himself, if 
he could make the exercises, would be 
brought to penance." 

Another, a religious, but of such bad 
conduct that he had rendered himself in- 
supportable to all, was by his superiors sent 
to make the exercises. Being about to 
leave, he jestingly said to his friends : 
" Keep your beds ready to touch my body 
when I come back." But after the exercises 
he was so much changed that he became 
an example to all the other religious, who 
seeing this change, wished to make them 
also. 

Certain young men seeing other young 
men, their friends, going to make the exer- 
cises, wished to accompany them, not t& 
profit, but to jest afterwards in their con- 
versations about their devotions. But ex- 
actly the contrary happened ; for during 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 187 

the exercises they were filled with such 
compunction that they all began to sigh 
and weep, confessed their sins, and changed 
their lives. 

I could adduce such facts by thousands, 
but I shall relate only one more— tha of ta 
nun in the monastery of Torre di Speechi 
in Rome, who pretended to learning, but 
led a very imperfect life. This nun began, 
though with a bad will, to assist at the ex- 
ercises that were given in the monastery ; 
but the first meditation she made on the 
end of man made such an impression on 
her, that she began to weep, went to her 
spiritual Father, and said to him : " Father, 
I wish to become a saint, and this prompt- 
ly." She wanted to say more, but the 
tears prevented her from speaking. Hav- 
ing then retired to her cell, she made a 
writing by which she gave herself entirely 
to Jesus Christ, and began to lead a peni- 
tent and retired life, in which she perse- 
vered until death. 

But when we see the esteem in which 
the exercises have been held by so many 
Jioly men, this, if we had no other reason, 
should be enough to make us prize them 
highly. St. Charles Borromeo, from the 
first time that he made the spiritual exer- 



1 88 Choice of a State of Life, 

cises in Rome, began to lead a perfect life. 
St. Francis de Sales confessed that it was 
to the exercises he owed the beginning of 
his holy life. Father Louis of Granada, a 
holy man, said that his whole life would 
• not suffice to explain the knowledge of 
. heavenly things he had received in making 
the spiritual exercises. Father Avila called 
the exercises a school of heavenly wisdom, 
and wished that all his spiritual children 
should go to make them. Father Louis 
Blosius, a Benedictine, said that we should 
give to God special thanks for having in 
these latter times made known to his 
Church this treasure of the exercises. 

ii. 

But if the exercises are of a great help to 
persons in every state or condition, they 
are of an especial help to him who wishes 
to make the choice of the state of life he 
should embrace. For I find it stated that 
the first end for which the exercises were 
instituted was that of making the choice 
of a state of life, because upon this choice 
depends the eternal salvation of each one. 
We cannot expect that an angel from 
heaven should come to assure us of the 
state which according to the will of God we 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 189 

should choose. It is sufficient to place be- 
fore our eyes the state we think of choos- 
ing, and then we should consider the end 
we have in view in that choice, and weigh 
all the circumstances of the case. 

This is the principal reason for which I 
wish you to make the exercises in silence, 
namely, for making the choice of the state 
of life. When, then, you have entered 
upon the exercises, as I hope you will, I 
beg of you to follow the advice I am going 
to subjoin. 

1. The only intention that you should 
have in making these exercises is that you 
may know what God will have you to do ; 
and therefore in going to that solitary 
house, say within yourself : " I will hear 
what the Lord God will speak in me" (Ps. 
lxxxiv. 9). I go to know what the Lord 
shall tell me and what he wishes from me. 

2. Besides, it is necessary that you have a 
determined will to obey God, and to follow 
without reserve the vocation he shall make 
known to you. 

3. It is moreover necessary that you pray 
earnestly to the Lord, that he may make 
known to you his will, namely, in what 
state of life he wishes you to live. But re- 
member that in order to obtain this light 



190 Choice of a State of Life, 

you should pray with indifference of mind. 
He who prays to God to enlighten him on 
his state of life, but does so without this 
indifference, and, instead of wishing to 
conform to the will of God, wishes rather 
that God should conform to his own will, 
is like a pilot who feigns to will but indeed 
wills not that his vessel advance, since he 
casts the anchor and then hoists the sail. 
God does net enlighten or speak to such a 
person. But if you will supplicate him 
with this indifference and the resolution to 
accomplish his will, he will make you see 
clearly the state that is best for you. And 
if you should then feel any repugnance to 
it, you should place before your eyes the 
hour of your death, and reflect which state 
you would in that hour wish to have em- 
braced, and then embrace that. 

4. Take with you to your house of re- 
treat a book containing the meditations 
which are commonly made during the exer- 
cises ; read these meditations, and let them 
be instead of sermons, reflecting on them 
for half an hour as well in the morning as 
in the evening, Take also with you the 
lives of some of the saints or some other 
spiritual book out of which to make your 
reading ; and these should be your only 



And the Vocation to the Religions State. 191 

companions in solitude during the eight 
days. 

5. It is also necessary, in order to obtain 
that light and to hear what the Lord will 
speak to you, to avoid every distraction. 
" Be still, and see that I am God " (Ps. xlv. 
1 1). To hear the divine voice we must cease 
all intercourse with the world. To a sick 
man no remedies will be of any use if he 
does not take them with the proper precau- 
tion, as avoiding exposure to the cold air, 
unwholesome food, or too much applica- 
tion of mind. In the same manner, in 
order that the exercises may be useful for 
the health of your soul, you must remove 
hurtful distractions, such as receiving visits 
from friends, messages from without, or 
letters which are sent to you. St. Francis 
de Sales, when he was engaged in the exer- 
cises, laid aside all the letters he received, 
and did not read them until after the exer- 
cises. It is also necessary to read no 
books of amusement and not even of 
study ; for then we ought to study only the 
crucifix. Therefore have in your room 
none but spiritual books, and, reading in 
them, read not for curiosity's sake, but only 
for this one end, namely, to decide on the 



192 Choice of a State of Life, 

state of life which God will make known to 
you as the one he wishes you to embrace. 

6. Moreover, it is not enough to avoid 
distractions from without ; you must also 
avoid those from within : for if you should 
there deliberately allow your mind to 
think on the things of the world, or of 
study, or the like, the exercises and the 
solitude will be of little use to you. St. 
Gregory says, " What avails the solitude of 
the body if the solitude of the heart is 
wanting ?" (Mor. 1. 30, c. 23.) Peter Ortiz, 
an envoy of Charles V., wished to go to the 
monastery of Monte Casino to make the 
exercises. Having arrived at the door of 
the monastery he said to his thoughts 
what our Lord said to his disciples, " Sit 
ye here till I go yonder and pray" (Matt. 
xxvi. 36). Thoughts of the world, wait here 
outside. Having finished the exercises, 
I shall again see you, and we will again talk 
together. Whilst one is engaged in the 
exercises he ought to make use of the time 
only for the good of his soul, without los- 
ing any moment of it. Finally, I beg of 
you to recite during the exercises the fol- 
lowing short prayer : 

My God, I am that miserable one, who in 
the past have despised Thee, but now I es- 



And the Vocation to the Religious State. 193 

teem and love Thee above everything, nor 
will I love any other but Thee. Thou 
wouldst have me belong entirely to Thee ; 
to Thee I will belong entirely. " Speak, O 
Lord, for Thy servant heareth" (1 Kings iii. 
10). Let me know what Thou wishest 
from me, and I will do all ; and let me es- 
pecially know in what state Thou wishest 
me to serve Thee. " Make the way known 
to me wherein I should walk" (Ps. cxliii. 8). 

During the exercises recommend yourself 
also in an especial manner to the divine 
mother Mary, praying her to obtain for you 
the grace perfectly to accomplish the will 
of her Son. 

And do not forget, when you make the 
exercises, to recommend me to Jesus 
Christ, as I will not omit to do in a partic- 
ular manner for you, that he may make you 
a saint, as I heartily wish. In which senti- 
ment I protest myself to be your most de- 
voted and obliged servant, etc. 



2i:i)£ ttocation to i\\t T$x\z%\\)odb. 

I. Necessity of a Divine Vocation to take 
Holy Orders. 

^O enter any state of life a divine vo- 
cation is necessary ; for without such 
a vocation it is, if not. impossible, at 
least most difficult, to fulfil the obligations 
of our state, and obtain salvation. But if 
for all states a vocation is necessary, it is 
necessary in a particular manner for the 
ecclesiastical state. " He that entereth not 
by the door into the sheepfold, but climb- 
eth up another way, the same is a thief and 
a robber" {John x. i). Hence he who 
takes holy Orders without a call from God 
is convicted of theft, in taking by force a 
dignity which God does not wish to bestow 
upon him. " Robbers and thieves," says 
St. Cyril of Alexandria, " such are the 
names of those that dare to adjudge to 
themselves a grace that heaven does not 
offer them" {In Jo. x. 10). And before 
him St. Paul said the same thing : " Neither 
doth any man take the honor to himself, 
195 



196 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. 
So Christ also did not glorify himself that 
he might be made a high priest; but he 
that said unto him : Thou art my Son ; 
this day have I begotten thee" {Heb. v. 4, 

5). 

No one, then, however learned, prudent, 
and holy he may be, can thrust himself into 
the sanctuary unless he is first called and 
introduced by God. Jesus Christ himself, 
who among all men was certainly the most 
learned and the most holy, " full of grace 
and truth" {John i. 14), "in whom are hid 
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" 
{Col. ii. 3), — Jesus Christ, I say, required a 
divine call in order to assume the dignity of 
the priesthood. 

In entering the sanctuary, even after God 
himself had called them to it, the saints 
trembled. When his bishop ordered St. 
Augustine to receive ordination, the saint 
through humility regarded the command as 
a chastisement of his sins. " They have 
forced me, in punishment of my sins" {Eftist. 
21, E. B.). To escape the priesthood St. 
Ephrem of Syria feigned madness ; and St. 
Ambrose pretended to be a man of a cruel 
disposition. 

To avoid the priesthood, St. Ammonius 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 197 

the Monk cut off his ears and threatened 
to pluck out his tongue if the persons who 
pressed him to take holy Orders should 
continue to molest him. In a word, St. 
Cyril of Alexandria says, " The saints have 
dreaded the dignity of the priesthood, as a 
burden of enormous weight " (De Fest. 
fiasch. horn. 1). Can any one, then, says St. 
Cyprian, be so daring as to attempt of him- 
self, and without a divine call, to assume 
the priesthood ? {Epist. 55.) 

As a vassal who would of himself take 
the office of minister should violate the au- 
thority of his sovereign, so he who intrudes 
himself into the sanctuary without a voca- 
tion violates the authority of God. How 
great should be the temerity of the subject 
who, without the appointment, and even in 
opposition to the will of the monarch, 
should attempt to administer the royal 
patrimony, to decide lawsuits, to command 
the army, and to assume the viceregal au- 
thority ! " Among you," asks St. Bernard 
in speaking to clerics, " is there any one so 
insolent as, without orders and contrary to 
the will of the pettiest monarch; to assume 
the direction of his affairs ?" {De Conv. ad 
cler. c. 19.) And are not priests, as St. 
Prosper says, the administrators of the royal 



198 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

house ? (Be Vita cont. 1. 2, c. 2.) Are they 
not, according to St. Ambrose, the " leaders 
and rectors of the flock of Christ" (De 
Dign. sac. c. 2), according to St. John 
Chrysostom, the " interpreters of the divine 
judgments," and according to St. Denis, 
the "vicars of Christ*'? {Horn. 17.) Will 
any one who knows all this dare to become 
the minister of God without a divine call ? 

To think of exercising royal authority is, 
according to St. Peter Chrysologus, crimi- 
nal in a subject (Serm. 23). To intrude into 
the house of a private individual, in order 
to dispose of his goods and to manage his 
business, would be considered temerity ; for 
even a private individual has the right of 
appointing the administrators of his affairs. 
And will you, says St. Bernard, without 
being called or introduced by God, intrude 
into his house to take charge of his inter- 
ests and to dispose of his goods ? {De Vita 
cler. c. 5.) 

The Council of Trent has declared that 
the Church regards not as her minister, but 
as a robber, the man who audaciously as- 
sumes the priesthood without a vocation 
(Sess. xxiii. c. 4). Such priests may labor 
and toil, but their labors shall profit them 
little before God. On the contrary, the 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 199 

works that are meritorious in others shall 
deserve chastisement for them. Should a 
servant who is commanded by his master 
to take care of the house, through his own 
caprice labor in cultivating the vineyard, he 
may toil and sweat, but instead of being re- 
warded he shall be chastised by his master. 
Thus, in the first place, because they are 
not conformable to the divine will, the Lord 
shall not accept the toils of the man who, 
without a vocation, intrudes himself into 
the priesthood. " I have no pleasure in 
you, saith the Lard of Hosts, and I will not 
receive a gift of your hand " {Mai. i. 10). 
In the end God will not reward, but will 
punish, the works of the priest who has 
entered the sanctuary without a vocation. 
" What stranger soever cometh to it [the 
tabernacle] shall be slain" {Num. i. 51). 

Whosoever, then, aspires to holy Orders 
must, in the first place, carefully examine 
whether his vocation is from God. " For," 
says St. John Chrysostom, " since this dig- 
nity is great, it must be approved by a di- 
vine sentence, so that only the one that is 
worthy may be admitted thereto" {In 1 
Tim. horn. 5). Now, to know whether his 
call is from God, he should examine the 
marks of a divine vocation. He, says St. 



200 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

Luke, who wishes to build a tower first 
computes the necessary expenses, in order 
to know if he has the means of completing 
the edifice {Luke xiv. 28). 



II. Marks of a Divine Vocation to the Sac- 
erdotal State. 



i 



kfrg\ET us now see what are the marks of 
)|{(r^ a divine vocation to the sacerdotal 
<5^~> state. 
Nobility is not a mark of a divine vocation 
To know, says St. Jerome, whether a per- 
son should become the guide of the people 
in what regards their eternal salvation, we 
must consider not nobility of blood, but 
sanctity of life (In Tit. 1). St. Gregory says 
the same : " By one's conduct/ not by one's 
high birth, is one's vocation to be proved." 
Nor is the will of parents a mark of a 
divine vocation. In inducing a child to 
take priesthood they seek not his spiritual 
welfare, but their own interest, and the ad- 
vancement of the family. " How many 
mothers," says St. John Chrysostom, or the 
author of the Imperfect Work, " have eyes 
only for the bodies of their children and 
disdain their souls ! To see them happy 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 201 

here below is all that they desire ; as for the 
punishments that perhaps their children are 
to endure in the next life, they do not even 
think of them" (Horn. 35). We must be 
persuaded, as Jesus Christ has said, that 
with regard to the choice of a state of life 
we have no enemies more dangerous than 
our own relatives. "And a man's enemies 
shall be they of his own household " (Matt. 
x. 36). Hence the Redeemer adds: "He 
that loveth father or mother more than me 
is not worthy of me" (Matt. x. 37). Oh! 
how many priests shall we see condemned 
on the day of judgment for having taken 
holy Orders to please their relatives. 

When a young man, in obedience to the 
call of God, wishes to become a religious, 
what efforts do not his parents make, either 
through passion or for the interest of the 
family, to dissuade him from following his 
vocation ! It is necessary to know that, ac- 
cording to the common opinion of theolo- 
gians, this cannot be excused from mortal 
sin. See what I have written on this sub- 
ject in my Moral Theology (1. 4, n. 77). Par- 
ents who act in this manner are guilty of 
a double sin. They sin first against charity, 
because they are the cause of a grievous 
evil to the child whom God has called to 



202 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

religion. A person who dissuades even a 
stranger from following a religious vocation 
is guilty of a grievous sin. They sin, sec- 
ondly, against piety; for by their obligation 
to educate a child they are bound to pro- 
mote his greatest spiritual welfare. Some 
ignorant confessors tell their penitents who 
wish to become religious, that in this they 
should obey their parents, and abandon 
their vocation if their parents object to 
their entering religion. These confessors 
adopt the opinion of Luther, who taught 
that a person sins by entering religion with- 
out the consent of his parents. But the 
doctrine of Luther was rejected by the holy 
Fathers, and by the Tenth Council of To- 
ledo, in which it was decreed that children 
who had attained their fourteenth year may 
lawfully enter religion even against the will 
of their parents. A child is bound to obey 
his parents in what regards his education 
and the government of the house ; but with 
regard to the choice of a state of life, he 
should obey God by embracing the state to 
which God calls him. When parents seek 
to be obeyed in this matter we must answer 
them in the words of the apostles to the 
princes of the Jews : " If it be just in the 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 203 

sight of God to hear you rather than God, 
judge ye" (Acts'w. 19). 

St. Thomas expressly teaches that in the 
choice of a state of life children are not 
obliged to obey their parents. And the 
saint says that when there is question of a 
vocation to religion, a person is not bound 
even to consult his relatives ; for on such 
occasions self-interest changes relatives 
into enemies {Contra retr. a. rel. c. 9). Par- 
ents are, as St. Bernard says, content to see 
their children damned with them, rather 
than see them saved by entering religion 
and separating from the family {Epist. iii.). 
But when a person wishes to enter the sac- 
erdotal state, in which he may be able to 
serve the family, what efforts do not his 
parents make to procure his ordination, 
either by lawful or unlawful means, whether 
he is called or not called to the priesthood! 
And with what severity do they not treat 
him if, through remorse of conscience, he 
refuse to take holy Orders! Barbarous 
fathers! Let us, with St. Bernard, call' 
them not parents, but murderers ! Un- 
happy fathers ! miserable children ! I say 
again. How many shall we see con- 
demned in the valley of Josaphat for hav- 
ing interfered with the vocation of others, 



204 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

or for not having attended to their own ! 
For, as we shall hereafter demonstrate, the 
salvation of each individual depends on 
following the divine call. 

But let us return to our subject. Neither 
nobility of birth nor the will of parents is a 
mark of a vocation to the priesthood ; nor 
is talent or fitness for the offices of a priest 
a sign of vocation, for along with talent 
a holy life and a divine call are necessary. 

What, then, are the marks of a divine 
vocation to the ecclesiastical state ? There 
are three principal marks : 

i . Purity of Intention. 

The first is a good intention. It is nec- 
essary to enter the sanctuary by the door, 
but there is no other door than Jesus 
Christ : " I am the door of the sheep. . . . 
If any man enter in, he shall be saved " 
(John x. 7, 9). To enter, then, by the door 
is to become a priest not to please relatives, 
nor to advance the family, nor for the sake 
of self-interest or self-esteem, but to serve 
God, to propagate his glory, and to save 
souls. " If any one," says a wise theolo- 
gian, the learned continuator of Tournely, 
" presents himself for holy Orders without 
any vicious affection, and with the sole de- 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 205 

sire to be employed in the service of God 
and in the salvation of his neighbor, he, we 
may believe, is called by God " {De Ord. q. 
4, a. 4). Another author asserts that he 
who is impelled by ambition, interest, or a 
motive of his own glory, is called not by 
God, but by the devil (Hall. p. 1, s. 3, c. 2, 
§ 4). "But," adds St. Anselm, " he who 
enters the priesthood through so unworthy 
motives shall receive not a blessing, but a 
malediction from God " {In Heb. 5). 

2. Science and Talents. 

The second mark is the talent and learn- 
ing necessary for the fulfilment of the du- 
ties of a priest. Priests must be masters 
to teach the people the law of God. " For 
the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, 
and they shall seek the law at his mouth" 
{Mai. ii. 7). Sidonius Apollinarius used to 
say : " Ignorant physicians are the cause of 
many deaths" {Lib. 2, ep. 12). And igno- 
rant priests, particularly a confessor who 
teaches false doctrines and gives bad coun- 
sels, will be the ruin of many souls ; be- 
cause, in consequence of being a priest, his 
errors are easily believed. Hence Ivone 
Carnotensis has written: " No one should 
be admitted to holy Orders unless he has 



206 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

given sufficient proofs of good conduct and 
learning." 

A priest must not only have a competent 
knowledge of all the rubrics necessary for 
the celebration of Mass, but must be also 
acquainted with the principal things that 
regard the sacrament of penance. It is 
true, that every priest is not obliged to 
hear confessions, unless there is great 
necessity for his assistance in the district 
in which he lives ; however, every priest 
is bound to be acquainted with what a 
priest must ordinarily know in order to 
be able to hear the confessions of dying 
persons ; that is, he is bound to know when 
he has faculties to absolve, when and how 
he ought to give absolution to the sick, 
whether conditionally or absolutely; what 
obligation he ought to impose on them, if 
they are under any censure. He should 
also know at least the general principles of 
Moral Theology. 

3. Positive Goodness of Character. 

The third mark of an ecclesiastical voca- 
tion is positive virtue. 

Hence, in the first place, the person who 
is to be ordained should be a man of in- 
nocent life, and should not be contami- 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 207 

nated by sins. The apostle requires that 
they who are to be ordained priests should 
be free from every crime. In ancient times 
a person who had committed a single mor- 
tal sin could never be ordained, as we learn 
from the First Council of Nice {Can. 9). 
And St. Jerome says that it was not 
enough for a person to be free from sin at 
the time of his ordination, but that it was, 
moreover, necessary that he should not 
have fallen into mortal sin since the time 
of his baptism (In Tit. 1). It is true that 
this rigorous discipline has ceased in the 
Church, but it has been always at least re- 
quired that he who had fallen into griev- 
ous sins should purify his conscience for a 
considerable time before his ordination. 
This we may infer from a letter to the 
Archbishop of Rheims, in which Alexan- 
der III. commanded that a deacon who 
had wounded another deacon, if he sin- 
cerely repented of his sin, might, after be- 
ing absolved, and after performing the pen- 
ance enjoined, be permitted again to exer- 
cise his Order; and that if he afterwards 
led a perfect life, he might be promoted to 
priesthood (Cap. 1, De diacono. Qui cter.) 
He, then, who finds himself bound by a 
habit of any vice cannot take any holy 



208 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

Order without incurring the guilt of mor- 
tal sin. " I am horrified," says St. Bernard 
{Epist. 8), " when I think whence thou com- 
est, whither thou goest, and what a short 
penance thou hast put between thy sins and 
thy ordination. However, it is indispensa- 
ble that thou do not undertake to purify the 
conscience of others before thou purifiest 
thy own." Of those daring sinners who, 
though full of bad habits, take priesthood, 
an ancient author, Gildas, says, " It is not 
to the priesthood that they should be ad- 
mitted, but they should be dragged to 
the pillory" {Cast, in eccl. ord.). They, 
then, says St. Isidore, who are still sub- 
ject to the habit of any sin should not 
be promoted to holy Orders {Sent. 1. 3, c. 

34). 

But he who intends to ascend the altar 
must not only be free from sin, but must 
have also begun to walk in the path of per- 
fection, and have acquired a habit of virtue. 
In our Moral Theology (1. 6, n. 63, et seq) 
we have shown in a distinct dissertation 
(and this is the common opinion) that if a 
person in the habit of any vice wish to be 
ordained it is not enough for him to have 
the dispositions necessary for the sacra- 
ment of penance, but that he must also 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 209 

have the dispositions required for receiv- 
ing the sacrament of order; otherwise he 
is unfit for both : and should he receive 
absolution with the intention of taking 
Orders without the necessary dispositions, 
he and the confessor who absolves him 
shall be guilty of a grievous sin. For it is 
not enough for those who wish to take 
holy Orders to have left the state of sin : 
they must also, according to the words of 
Alexander III. {si perfectce vitce et conver- 
sations fuerit), cited in the preceding par- 
agraph, have the positive virtue necessary 
for the ecclesiastical state. From the 
words of the Pontiff we learn that a person 
who has done penance may exercise an 
' order already received, but he who has 
only done penance cannot take a higher 
order. The angelic Doctor teaches the 
same doctrine : " Sanctity is required for 
the reception of holy Orders, and we must 
place the sublime burden of the priesthood 
only upon walls already dried by sanctity ; 
that is, freed from the malignant humor of 
sin" (2. 2, q. 189, a. 1). This is qonforma- 
ble to what St. Denis wrote long before : 
" Let no one be so bold as to propose him- 
self to others as their guide in the things 
of God, if he has not first, with all his 



210 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

power, transformed himself into God to 
the point of perfect resemblance to him" 
(De EccL Hier. c. 3). For this St. Thomas 
adduces two reasons : the first is, that as he 
who takes Orders is raised above seculars 
in dignity, so he should be superior to 
them in sanctity {Suppl. q. 35, a. 1). The 
second reason is, that by his ordination a 
priest is appointed to exercise the most 
sublime ministry on the altar, for which 
greater sanctity is required than for the re- 
ligious state (2. 2, 9, 184, a. 8). 

Hence the Apostle forbade Timothy to 
ordain neophytes ; that is, according to St. 
Thomas, neophytes in perfection as well as 
neophytes in age. Hence the Council of 
Trent, in reference to the words of Scrip- 
ture, " And a spotless life in old age" ( Wisd. 
iv. 9), prescribes to the bishops to admit to 
ordination only those who show them- 
selves worthy by a conduct full of wise ma- 
turity {Sess. xxiii. c. 12). And of this posi- 
tive virtue it is necessary, according to St. 
Thomas, to have not a doubtful but a cer- 
tain knowledge {Suppl. q. 36, a. 4). This, 
according to St. Gregory, is particularly 
necessary with regard to the virtue of chas- 
tity : " No one should be admitted to the 
ministry of the altar unless an assurance 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 211 

has been given of his perfect chastity" {Lib. 
1, ep. 42). With regard to chastity, the 
holy Pontiff required a proof of many yeafs 
{Lib. 3, ep. 26). 

From this we may infer that God will de- 
mand a terrible account of the parish priest 
who gives to persons aspiring to the priest- 
hood a testimony of their having fre- 
quented the sacraments and led exemplary 
lives, though they had neglected the fre- 
quentation of the sacraments, and had 
given scandal rather than good example. 
Such parish priests by these false attesta- 
tions, given not through charity, as they 
pretend, but against the charity due to 
God and the Church, render themselves 
guilty of all the sins that shall be after- 
wards committed by the bad priests who 
were ordained in consequence of these tes- 
timonials. For in this matter bishops 
trust to the testimony of parish priests, and 
are deceived. Nor should a parish priest 
in giving such attestations trust the testi- 
mony of others : he cannot give them un- 
less he is certain that what he attests is 
true, namely, that the ecclesiastic has really 
led an exemplary life, and has frequented 
the sacraments. And as a bishop cannot 
ordain any person unless he be a man of 



212 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

approved chastity, so a confessor cannot 
permit an incontinent penitent to receive 
ordination without having a moral cer- 
tainty that he is free from the bad habit 
which he had contracted, and that he had 
acquired a habit of the virtue of chastity. 

III. To what Dangers one exposes One's 
Self by taking Holy Orders without a 
Vocation. 

iROM what has been said, it follows 
that he who takes holy Orders 
without the marks of a vocation 
cannot be excused from the guilt of griev- 
ous sin. This is the doctrine of many the- 
ologians, — of Habert, of Natalis Alexander, 
of Juenin, and of the continuator of Tour- 
nely. And before them St. Augustine 
taught the same. Speaking of the chas- 
tisement inflicted on Core, Dathan, and 
Abiron, who, without being called, at- 
tempted to exercise the sacerdotal func- 
tions, the holy Doctor said : " God struck 
them that they might serve as an example, 
and thus to warn off him who would dare 
to assume a sacred charge. Indeed, this is 
the chastisement reserved for those who 
would thrust themselves into the office of 



The Vocation to the Priesthood, 213 

bishop, priest, or deacon" (Serin. 30, E. B. 
a ftp.). And the reason is, first, because he 
who thrusts himself into the sanctuary 
without a divine call cannot be excused 
from grievous presumption ; secondly, be- 
cause he shall be deprived of the congru- 
ous and abundant helps, without which, as 
Habert writes, he shall be absolutely unable 
to comply with the obligations of his state, 
but shall fulfil them only with great diffi- 
culty. He will be like a dislocated mem- 
ber, which can be used only with difficulty, 
and which causes deformity (De Ord. p. 3, 
c 1, § 2). 

Hence Bishop Abelly writes : " He who 
of himself, without inquiring whether he 
has a vocation or not, thrusts himself into 
the priesthood will no doubt expose him- 
self to the great danger of losing his soul ; 
for he commits against the Holy Spirit that 
sin for which, as the Gospel says, there is 
hardly or very rarely any pardon" {Sac. chr. 
po 1, c. 4). 

The Lord has declared that his wrath is 
provoked against those who wish to rule in 
his Church without being called by him. 
On this passage St, Gregory says, " It is by 
themselves and not by the will of the Su- 
preme Head that they reign" (Os. viii. 4), 



2i4 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

Divine vocation is entirely wanting to them, 
and they have followed only the ardor of 
vile cupidity, not certainly to accept, but to 
usurp this sublime dignity {Past. p. i, c. i). 
How many intrigues, adulations, entrea- 
ties, and other means do certain persons 
employ in order to procure ordination, not 
in obedience to the call of God, but through 
earthly motives ! But woe to such men, 
says the Lord by the prophet Isaias : " Woe 
to you, apostate children, . . . that you 
would take counsel, and not of me" (Isa. 
xxx. i). On the day of judgment they shall 
claim a reward, but Jesus Christ shall cast 
them off. " Many will say to me in that 
day, Have we not prophesied in thy name 
[by preaching and teaching], and cast out 
devils in thy name [by absolving penitent 
sinners], and done many miracles in thy 
name [by correcting the wicked, by settling 
disputes, by converting sinners]? And then 
will I profess unto them : I never knew you ; 
depart from me, you that work iniquity" 
(Matt. vii. 22, 23). Priests who have not 
been called are indeed workmen and minis- 
ters of God, because they have received the 
sacerdotal character ; but they are ministers 
of iniquity and rapine, because they have of 
their own will, and without vocation, in- 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 215 

truded themselves into the sheepfold. 
They have not, as St. Bernard says (De 
Conv. ad cler, c. 19), received the keys, but 
have taken them by force. They toil, but 
God will not accept ; he will, on the con- 
trary, punish their works and labors be- 
cause they have not entered the sanctuary 
by the straight path. " The labor of fools 
shall afflict them that know not how to go 
to the city" (Eccles. x. 15). The Church, 
says St. Leo, receives only those whom the 
Lord chooses, and by his election makes fit 
to be his ministers (In die ass. sua, s. 2). 
But, on the other hand, the Church rejects 
those whom, as St. Peter Damian has 
written, God has not called ; for instead of 
promoting her welfare, they commit havoc 
among her members ; and instead of edify- 
ing, they contaminate and destroy her chil- 
dren (Cont. cler. aul. c. 3). 

" Whom he [the Lord] shall choose, they 
shall approach to him" (Num. xvi. 5). God 
will gladly admit into his presence all whom 
he has called to the priesthood, and will 
cast off the priest whom he has not chosen. 
St. Ephrem regards as lost the man who is 
so daring as to take the order of priest- 
hood without a vocation. " I am aston- 
ished," he says, " at that which those fools 



216 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

dare to do, who, without the grace of 
vocation through Christ, full of boldness, 
seek to insinuate themselves into the office 
of the priesthood. Miserable beings, that 
know not that they are preparing for them- 
selves an eternal fire" (Or. de Sacerd.). And 
Peter de Blois has written : " What ruin 
does not the bold man prepare for himself 
who of the sacrifice makes a sacrilege, and 
of life an instrument of death!" (Ep. 123.) 
He who errs in his vocation exposes him- 
self to greater danger than if he trans- 
gressed particular precepts ; for if he vio- 
lates a particular command, he may rise 
from his fall, and begin again to walk in the 
right path, but he who errs in his voca- 
tion mistakes the way itself. Hence the 
longer he travels in it, the more distant he 
is from his home. To him we may justly 
apply the words of St. Augustine : " You 
run well, but on the wrong road." 

It is necessary to be persuaded of the 
truth of what St. Gregory says, that our 
eternal salvation depends principally on em- 
bracing the state to which God has called 
us (De Sing. cler.). The reason is evident: 
for it is God that destines, according to the 
order of his Providence, his state of life for 
each individual, and according to the state to 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 217 

which he calls him, prepares for him abund- 
ant graces and suitable helps. " In the dis- 
tribution of graces," says St. Cyprian, "the 
Holy Spirit takes into consideration his 
own plan, and not our caprices." And ac- 
cording to the Apostle : " And whom he 
predestinated, them he also called. And 
whom he called, them he also justified " 
{Rom. viii. 30). Thus to vocation succeeds 
justification, and to justification, glory ; 
that is, the attainment of eternal life. He 
then, who does not obey the call of God 
shall neither be justified nor glorified. 
Father Granada justly said that vocation is 
the main wheel of our entire life. As in a 
clock, if the main wheel be spoiled, the en- 
tire clock is injured, so, says St. Gregory 
Nazianzen, if a person err in his vocation 
his whole life will be full of errors; for in 
the state to which God has not called him 
he will be deprived of the helps by which 
he can with facility lead a good life. 

"Every one," says St. Paul, "hath his 
proper gift from God ; one after this man- 
ner, and another after that " (1 Cor. vii. 7). 
The meaning of this passage, according to 
St. Thomas and other commentators, is, 
that the Lord gives to each one graces to 
fulfil with ease the obligations of the state 



2 1 8 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

to which he calls him. " God," says the 
angelic Doctor, " gives to every man not 
only certain aptitudes, but also all that is 
necessary to exercise them" (Suppl. q. 35, 
a. 1). And in another place he writes : 
" God does not destine men to such or such 
a vocation without favoring them with gifts 
at the same time, and preparing them in 
such a way as to render them capable of 
fulfilling the duties of their vocation ; for, 
says St. Paul : ' Our sufficiency is from God, 
who also hath made us fit ministers of the 
New Testament' " (2 Cor, iii. 5, 6. — P. 3, q. 
27, a. 4). As each person, then, will be able 
to discharge with facility the office to which 
God elects him, so he will be unfit for the 
fulfilment of the office to which God does 
not call him. The foot, which is given to 
enable us to walk, cannot see ; the eye, 
which is given to see, is incapable of hear- 
ing ; and how shall he who is not chosen 
by God to the priesthood be able to dis- 
charge its obligations ? 

It belongs to the Lord to choose the 
workmen who are to cultivate his vineyard : 
" I have chosen you, . . . and have ap- 
pointed you that you should go, and should 
bring forth fruit" {John xv. 16). Hence 
the Redeemer did not say, Beg of men to 



The Voca Hon to the Priesthood. 219 

go and gather the harvest ; but he tells us 
to ask the master of the crop to send work- 
men to collect it {Luke x. 2). Hence he 
also said : " As the Father hath sent me, I 
also send you" {John xx. 21). When God 
calls, he himself, says St. Leo, gives the 
necessary helps {In die ass. suce, s. 1). This 
is what Jesus Christ has said : " I am the 
door. By me if any man enter in he shall 
be saved, and he shall go in, and go out, 
and shall find pastures'* {John x. 9). " He 
shall go in :" what the priest called by God 
undertakes, he shall easily accomplish with- 
out sin, and with merit. " And shall go 
out :" he shall be in the midst of perils and 
occasions of sin, but with the divine aid he 
shall readily escape injury. " And shall 
find pastures :" finally, in consequence of 
being in the state in which God has placed 
him, he will be assisted in all the duties of 
his ministry by special graces, which will 
make him advance in perfection. Hence 
he will be able to say with confidence " The 
Lord ruleth me : and I shall want nothing. 
He hath set me in a place of pasture" {Ps. 
xxii. 1). 

But priests whom God has not sent to 
work in his Church he shall abandon to 
eternal ignominy and destruction. " I have 



220 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

not sent these prophets," says the Lord by 
the prophet Jeremias, " yet they ran." He 
afterwards adds : " Therefore I will take 
you and carry you away, and will forsake 
you ; . . . and I will bring an everlasting 
reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame 
which shall never be forgotten" (Jer. xxiii, 
21, 39-40). 

In order to be raised to the sublimity of 
the priesthood it is necessary, as St. Thomas 
says, for a man " to be exalted and elevated 
by divine power above the natural order of 
things" (Habert, de Ord. p. 3, c. 1, § 2), be- 
cause he is appointed the sanctifier of the 
people, and the vicar of Jesus Christ. But 
in him who raises himself to so great a 
dignity shall be verified the words of the 
Wise Man : " There is that hath appeared a 
fool after he was lifted up on high" (Prov. 
xxx. 32). Had he remained in the world, 
he should perhaps have been a virtuous 
layman; but having become a priest with- 
out a vocation, he will be a bad priest, and 
instead of promoting the interest of religion, 
he will do great injury to the Church. Of 
such priests the Roman Catechism says : 
" Such ministers are for the Church of God 
the gravest embarrassment and the most 
terrible scourge" (P. 2, c. 7, q. 3). And 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 221 

what good can be expected from the priest 
who has entered the sanctuary without a 
vocation ? " It is impossible," says St. Leo, 
" that a work so badly begun should finish 
well " {Epist. 87). St. Laurence Justinian 
has written : " What fruit, I ask, can come 
from a corrupted root ?" {De Compunct) 
Our Saviour has said, " Every plant which 
my heavenly Father hath not planted shall 
be rooted up" {Matt. xv. 13). Hence Peter 
de Blois writes tnat when God permits a 
person to be ordained without a vocation, 
the permission is not a grace, but a chas- 
tisement. For a tree which has not taker- 
deep root, when exposed to the tempest 
shall soon fall and be cast into the fire {Be 
inst. ep. c. 3). And St. Bernard says that he 
who has not lawfully entered the sanctuary 
shall continue to be unfaithful ; and instead 
of procuring the salvation of souls, he shall 
be the cause of their death and perdition 
{De Vita cler. c. 7). This is conformable to 
the doctrine of Jesus Christ: " He that en- 
tereth not by the door into the sheepfold, 
. . . the same is a thief and a robber" {John 
x.i). 

Some may say, if they only were ad- 
mitted to orders who have the marks of vo- 
cation which have been laid down as indis- 



222 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

pensable, there should be but few priests in 
the Church, and the people should be left 
without the necessary helps. But to this 
the Fourth Council of Lateran has an- 
swered : " It is much better to confer the 
priesthood on a small number of virtuous 
clerics than to have a large number of bad 
priests" {Cap. 27). And St. Thomas says 
that God never abandons his Church so as to 
leave her in want of fit ministers to provide 
for the necessity of the people {Suppl. q. 36, 
a. 4). St. Leo justly says that to provide 
for the wants of the people by bad priests 
would be not to save but to destroy them 
(Epist. 87). 

If, then, a priest has been ordained with- 
out a vocation, what must he do ? Must 
he look on himself as lost ? must he aban- 
don himself to despair ? No. St. Gregory 
has asked the same question. He answers: 
" He must lament." Behold what such a 
priest must do if he wish to save his soul : 
" He must lament ;" he must weep, and 
seek to appease the anger of God by tears 
and by repentance, and to move him to 
pardon the great sin that he committed in 
thrusting himself into the sanctuary with- 
out a divine call. He must, as St. Bernard 
exhorts, endeavor to attain after his ordi- 



The Vocation to the Priesthood. 223 

nation the sanctity of life which ought to 
precede it. He must change his conduct, 
his conversation and pursuits. " Let all be 
holy — your life and your works" (Epist. 27), 
continues the saint. If he is ignorant, he 
must study; if he has spent his time in 
worldly conversations and amusements, he 
must change them into meditations, spirit- 
ual reading, and visits to the churches. 
But to do this he must use violence to 
himself ; for, as has been already said, since 
he has entered the sanctuary without a vo- 
cation, he is but a dislocated member, and 
therefore he must work out his salvation 
with great difficulty and great labor. But 
if, in consequence of having become a priest 
without a divine call, he is, as has been 
shown, bereft of the helps necessary to en- 
able him to discharge with facility the obli- 
gations of the priesthood, how shall he 
without these helps fulfil the sacerdotal 
duties ? Habert (De Ord. p. 3, c. 1, § 2) and 
the continuator of Tournely {De Oblig. cler. 
c. 1, a. 1, concl. 3) say, let him pray, and by 
his prayers he shall obtain that assistance 
which he does not deserve. This is con- 
formable to the doctrine of the Council of 
Trent: "God commands not impossibili- 
ties, but, by commanding, both admonishes 



224 The Vocation to the Priesthood. 

thee to do what thou art able, and to pray 
for what thou art not able [to do], and aids 
thee that thou mayest be able" {Sess. 6, 
cap. ii). 



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